Um Soohyun, Lee Jaeyoun, Oh Mira, Kim Seung Hyun
College of Pharmacy, Yonsei Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Yonsei University, Incheon, Republic of Korea.
Business Support Division, Korea Testing and Research Institute, Cheongju, Republic of Korea.
Methods Mol Biol. 2025;2895:201-225. doi: 10.1007/978-1-0716-4350-1_14.
Saponins represent specialized (secondary) metabolites primarily sourced from plants, typically characterized by an aglycone component of triterpenoids or steroids, often referred to as sapogenin, coupled with sugar moieties. Their structural intricacy and diversity, along with their manifold pharmacological properties, have garnered significant interest among researchers. Notwithstanding this interest, the study of saponins has been encumbered by challenges in their isolation, purification, and structural characterization. Fortunately, recent advancements in mass spectrometry (MS) coupled with spectral databases have facilitated the development of efficient dereplication tools. In this context, we present a detailed protocol exemplifying the isolation and structural elucidation of saponins derived from two Asteraceae plants, Brachyscome angustifolia and Tripolium pannonicum. This protocol predominantly relies on nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, supplemented by dereplication utilizing tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS)-based molecular networking (MN), which has accelerated the identification and characterization of novel acylated triterpene saponins.
皂苷是一类主要来源于植物的特殊（次生）代谢产物，其典型特征是具有由三萜类或甾体类组成的苷元成分，通常称为皂苷元，并与糖部分相连。它们结构的复杂性和多样性，以及多种药理特性，引起了研究人员的极大兴趣。尽管如此，皂苷的研究在其分离、纯化和结构表征方面面临诸多挑战。幸运的是，近年来质谱（MS）与光谱数据库的结合促进了高效去重复工具的开发。在此背景下，我们展示了一个详细的方案，用于阐明从两种菊科植物狭叶短舌菊（Brachyscome angustifolia）和匈牙利碱蓬（Tripolium pannonicum）中分离得到的皂苷的结构。该方案主要依赖核磁共振（NMR）光谱，并辅以利用基于串联质谱（MS/MS）的分子网络（MN）进行去重复，这加速了新型酰化三萜皂苷的鉴定和表征。
