Isolation of Saponins and Sapogenins from Callus Tissue of Panax ginseng

Abstract

The callus derived from the petiole of Panax ginseng has been vigorously grown on Murashige and Skoog’s agar medium (minus glycine) supplemented with 2,4-dichloro-phenoxyacetic acid. Saponins such as ginsenosides RbX (I) and Rg, (II) were obtained via the column of Sephadex LH-20 and silica gel, respectively. Sapogenins, such as panaxadiol (III), panaxatriol (IV) and oleanolic acid (V), were also isolated in crystalline form from the hydrolysates of crude saponins. The callus contains a considerable amount of saponins and the thin-layer chromatograms of the saponins are similar to those of ginseng root saponins. © 1973, The Pharmaceutical Society of Japan. All rights reserved.