Cycloartane triterpenoid saponins from the roots of Astragalus ernestii

A systematic study on chemical constituents of the roots of Astragalus ernestii was performed by silica gel, sephadex LH-20, MCI gel and Rp-18 column chromatography and spectral analysis such as MS, D-1 and D-2 NMR. As a result, nine cycloartane triterpenoid saponins were obtained from the methanol extract including a new compound asernestioside D (1), along with eight known constituents, 3-O-beta-D-xylopyranosyl-3 beta-6a,16 beta,20(S),24(R),25-hexahydroxycycloartane (2), cycloasgenin C-3-O-beta-D-xylopyranoside (3), cycloascidoside (4), cyclosiversigenin-3-O-beta-D-xylopyranoside (5), isoastragaloside IV (6), asernestioside A (7), asernestioside B (8), and asernestioside C (9).