Objective To study the chemical constituents of Dioscorea zingiberensis.Methods The fresh rhizome of D.zingiberensis was extracted three times,3 h once with EtOH-H2O at 80 ℃.The EtOH was evaporated under reduced pressure to give a residue which was suspended in water and then was exacted with petroleum ether,ethyl acetate,and n-butanol fraction.The water fraction was isolated by the reversed-phase ODS column chromatography.The chemical structures were elucidated by means of 1H-NMR,13C-NMR,135DEPT,HMQC,and HMBC spectroscopic analyses.Results Three steroidal saponins were isolated from the fresh rhizome of D.zingiberensis.The compounds were identified as:diosgenin-3-O-?-D-glucopyranosyl(1→3)-?-D-glucopyranosyl(1→4)-[?-L-rhamnopyranosyl(1→2)]-?-D-glucopyranoside(Ⅰ),(25R)-26-O-?-D-glucopyranosyl-furost-5-en-3?,22?-diol-3-O-?-D-glucopyranosyl(1→3)-?-D-glucopyranosyl(1→4)-[?-L-rhamnopyranosyl(1→2)]-?-D-glucopyranoside(Ⅱ),and(25R)-26-O-?-D-glucopyranosyl-furost-5-en-3?,22?-diol-7-carbonyl-3-O-?-D-glucopyranosyl(1→3)-?-D-glucopyranosyl(1→4)-[?-L-rhamnopyranosyl(1→2)]-?-D-glucopyranoside(Ⅲ).Conclusion Compound Ⅲ is a novel compound named as zingiberenin H.

Objective To study water-soluble constituents of Dioscorea zingiberensis in order to seek active components. Methods Various chromatographic techniques were used to isolate the constituents. Structures of compounds were elucidated by spectroscopic analyses of 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, 135DEPT, HMQC, HMBC, and TOCSY. Results One new steroidal saponin was isolated and identified as 26-O-(?-D-glucopyranosyl)-(25R)-furost-5-en-3?, 26-diol-22-OMe-3-O-｛?-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1→4)-[?-D-glucopyranosl-(1→3)-?-D-glucopyranosl-(1→2)]-?-D-glucopyranoside｝. Conclusion The compound is a novel compound named as zingierenin E. The other two compounds are reported for the first time from D. zingiberensis.