New withanolides from leaves along with alkyl glucoside from roots and stem as well as variations in withanolide contents in leaves of accessions of Ashwagandha- the Indian ginseng.

Based on the major components in the leaves, the ashwagandha has been found to exist in several chemotypic forms in India. From the leaves of various accessions of , which were maintained in our institute, three new steroids namely, 4-acetoxy-20β-hydroxy-1-oxo-witha-2,5,24-trienolide (), 24,25-dihydro-14α-hydroxy withanolide D (), 5α,6β,17α,27-tetrahydroxy-1-oxo-witha-2,24-dienolide () together with thirteen known withanolides were identified by spectroscopic methods. From the roots and stem of one accession and leaves of another, a new alkyl ester glucoside () has also been isolated. The new withanolides and have been tentatively named as withanolide 135 A, withanolide 135B and withanolide 108, respectively.