Steroidal sapogenins from leaves of cordyline species

The steroidal sapogenins obtained by hydrolysis of the saponins found in the leaves of eight species of Cordyline have been studied. With the exception of C. terminalis var. petiolaris, the extracts of all species yielded 1,3-dihydroxy sapogenins, which were usually the predominant compounds. C. terminalis var. petiolaris differed from all the other species examined, not only because of its lack of dihydroxy sapogenins, but also because it yielded the 5β-spirostanes, sarsasapogenin and smilagenin. The extracts of all seven other species contained only 5α-sapogenins. Compounds detected were 3-epf-tigogenin, 3-epf-neotigogenin, tigogenin, neotigogenin, diosgenin, yamogenin, cannigenin, cordylagenin, brisbagenin, ruscogenin and 255-ruscogenin