Steroidal Sapogenins LX

Abstract This is a report of the chemical examination of the sixth 1,000 accessions in a survey of plants for steroidal sapogenins. Data are given for about 1,030 species in 128 families, practically all collected in the United States. In Agave a new record of 4.4% genin, mostly smilagenin, was established. The collections of Dioscorea composita were uniformly high in diosgenin, with a new record of 10.1%. D. spiculiflora regularly contained diosgenin and yamogenin, and the highly desirable gentrogenin and correllogenin. A sample of seed of a Yucca sp. gave 11.1% sarsasapogenin. The recently discovered willagenin was found again in a Yucca sp. Of the total species examined, about 10% contained alkaloids, some 64 of them new to the record. This is the final report on this project of plant screening.