Saponin composition of rhizomes of Panax japonicus collected in South Kyushu, Japan, and its significance in oriental traditional medicine.

It was found that dammarane-saponin composition of rhizomes of Panax japonicus C. A. MEYER collected in Miyazaki-ken, Kyushu (South-West Province of Japan) was remarkably different from that of specimens (Japanese name : Chikusetsu-ninjin) collected at other places in Japan. From rhizomes of this specimen (local name : "Satsuma-ninjin"), four biologically active major dammarane-saponins of Ginseng roots, ginsenosides-Rg1 (11), -Re (12), -Rc (16) and -Rb1 (17) and two dammarane-saponins of Sanchi-Ginseng, notoginsenosides-R1 (13) and -R2 (9) as well as gypenoside-XVII (14) were isolated together with the saponins of oleanolic acid (1), chikusetsusaponins-IV (3) and -V (5), both of which have already been isolated from Chikusetsuninjin. From Chikusetsu-ninjin, none of 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16 and 17 has been isolated, while in "Satsuma-ninjin, "chikusetsusaponins-Ia (6), -III (7), which are the characteristic dammaranesaponins of Chikusetsu-ninjin, were not identified. The present isolation of the major dammarane-saponins of Ginseng roots from "Satsumaninjin"in relatively high yields is significant not only from the viewpoint of the geographical relation of Japanese P. japonicus with Chinese and Himalayan Panax spp. but also from the viewpoint of the pharmacological importance of this specimen in oriental traditional medicine.