1990 Volume 38 Issue 2 Pages 375-377
Grains of Quinoa, Chenopodium quinoa have been used as a staple food in the Andes, South America. In a continuing study on saponin constituents of this plant, seven oleanane saponins were isolated from brans of the grains. Two of them were identified as known saponins of oleanolic acid, chikusetsusaponin IVa (10) from rhizomes of Panax spp. and quinoside D (12) from seeds of this plant, respectively. The other five compounds (7, 8, 9, 11 and 13) are new saponins, being designated as quinoa-saponins-6-10. The structures of these saponins were elucidated as follows : 7, 8 and 9, 3-O-[β-glucopyranosyl(1→2)-β-glucopyranosyl(1→3)-α-arabinopyranoside]-28-O-β-glucopyranoside of 30-O-methyl spergulagenate, oleanolic acid and phytolaccagenic acid, respectively; 11, hederagenin 3-O-β-glucuronide-28-O-β-glucopyranoside; and 13; hederagenin 3-O-β-xylopyranosyl(1→3)-β-glucuronide-28-O-β-glucopyranoside.