Diosgenin from Allium angulosum

DIOSGENIN FROM Allium angulosum A. F . A z a r k o v a , G. S. G l y z i n a , T . M. M e l ' n i k o v a , N. I. M a i s u r a d z e , a n d L e n o i d M. K o g a n UDC 547.926 + 547.918 We have isolated diosgenin from various organs of Allium ar~ulosum L. {family Liliaceae) grown in the introduction section of VILR [All-Union Institute of Medicinal Plants] and collected in the stage of mass flowering. The comminuted rhizomes with roots, the bulbs, and the inflorescences were separately de.fatted with chloroform in a Soxhlet apparatus and heated with 2 N hydrochloric acid in the boiling water bath for 2.5 h. After neutralization, the hydrolysis products were extracted with chloroform. The evaporated extract was chromatographed on a column of KSK silica gel. Elution with cyclohexane-ethyl acetate ~4:1) gave diosgenin with mp 208-210°C (acetone), [ ~ ] ~ - 1 2 4 . 7 ° (c 0.55; chloroform). Literature data: mp 208°C, [o~]~-121 ° (chloroform) [1]. On thin-layer chromatography in silica gel in the cyclohexane-ethyl acetate (4-: 1), h e x a n e - e t h y l acetate (5: 1), and c h l o r o f o r m ethanol (95 : 5) systems this substance did not differ in mobility from an authentic sample of diosgenin. A mixture of the diosgenin that we had isolated and the authentic sample did not give a depression of the melting point, and their IR spectra were identical. The yield of diosgenin from the inflorescences was 0.18%, from the rhizomes with roots 0.04%, and from the bulbs 0.03% (on the weight of the absolutely dry raw material). According to chromatography in a thin layer of silica gel, a hydrolyzate of the leaves and stems of Allium angulosum L. contained traces of diosgenin. LITERATURE 1. CITED L. F i e s e r and M. Fieser, Steroids, Reinhold (1959). All-Union Scientific-Research Institute of Medicinal Plants. Translated from Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 3, p. 407, May-June, 1974. Original article submitted December 14, 1973. © 19 75 Plenum Publishing Corporation, 227 West 17th Street, New York, N. Y. 10011. No part o f this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording or otherwise, without written permission o f the publisher. A copy o f this article is available from the publisher for $15.00. 412  (...truncated)