Saponins with highly hydroxylated oleanane-type aglycones from Silphium asteriscus L.

- Eighteen saponins never reported before have been isolated from S. asteriscus.
- Their structures have been elucidated by 1D and 2D-NMR experiments as well as ESIMS analysis.
- The aglycones of compounds 8-18 are highly hydroxylated oleanane-type triterpenes, never reported in literature.
- The cytotoxic activity of the isolated compounds has been evaluated against three cancer cell lines.
- Compounds 1, 5 and 17 displayed weak activity with IC50 values ranging from 50 to 75 μM.