Steroidal saponins from Smilax excelsa rhizomes

From the n-butanol soluble fraction of the methanol extract of the rhizomes of Smilax excelsa, three new furostanol saponins 3-O-[4-O-acetyl--L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1 2)-{-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1 4)}--D-glucopyranosyl]-26-O-[-D-glucopyranosyl]-22-hydroxy-(25R)-furost-5-ene-3,26-diol (1), 3-O-[2-O-acetyl--L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1 2)-{-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1 4)}--D-glucopyranosyl]-26-O-[-D-glucopyranosyl]-22-hydroxy-(25R)-furost-5-ene-3,26-diol (2), 3-O-[3-O-acetyl--L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1 2)-{-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1 4)}--D-glucopyranosyl]-26-O-[-D-glucopyranosyl]-22-hydroxy-(25R)-furost-5-ene-3,26-diol (3), and three known saponins: protodioscin (4), pseudoprotodioscin (5) and dioscin (6) were isolated.