Abstract
Soybean saponin is one of several soybean glycosides. Recently, new soybean saponins
which possess the DDMP (2,5-dihydroxy-6-methyl-2,3-dihydro-4H-pyran-4-one) moiety have been detected. Soyasaponin βg of these new soybean saponins
was shown to inhibit hydrogen peroxide damage to mouse fibroblast cells. Not only
the new saponin but also soyasaponin I, which has lost the DDMP moiety from soyasaponin
βg, was tested and showed higher inhibition in this assay. In order to investigate
the relationship between the effect and chemical structure, glycyrrhizin, which has
a similar chemical structure to soyasaponin I, was also tested and exhibited the same
effect as soyasaponins βg and I. Soyasaponin Ab, a major authentic bisdesmosidic saponin
that exists only in the soybean hypocotyl, was also tested and exhibited the highest
inhibition of hydrogen peroxide damage among the four saponins. It was concluded that
water-soluble soybean saponins protected the cells from damage by hydrogen peroxide.
Key words
Soyasaponins -
Glycine max.
- Fabaceae - fibroblast - triterpenoids - glycyrrhizin - hydrogen peroxide - cell
culture - soybean