DOI 10.

1007/s10600-023-04009-4
Chemistry of Natural Compounds, Vol. 59, No. 2, March, 2023

CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS OF Asparagus officinalis

Chaonan Wang,1 Dongyan Cheng,2 Daqing Zhao,1

Lishu Wang,2* and Mingming Yan1*

Asparagus officinalis L. (Chinese name, shidiaobai) is a perennial of asparagus in Liliaceae herbaceous plants, also
known as lusun, longxucai, etc., are used as medicinal parts for dry underground tender stems, which can clear away heat and
dampness, promote blood circulation, and disperse tumors. They are mainly used for hepatitis, psoriasis, hyperlipidemia, and
breast hyperplasia. In addition, they also have certain curative effects on various cancers. According to literature reports,
A. officinalis is rich in minerals, amino acids, asparagus saponins, polysaccharides, flavonoids, and other bioactive
components, with antioxidant, antitumor, antifungal, and lipid-lowering pharmacological activities [1], but the chemical
components and biological activities of A. officinalis deserve further study. In this experiment, the ethanol extract of
A. officinalis was separated by solvent distribution and chromatography, and 12 kinds of pure substances were obtained,
including: 26-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-25S-cholest-5(6)-ene-3β,26-diol-12,15-dione-3-O-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1→4)-[α-L-
rhamnopyranosyl-(1→4)]-β-D-glucopyranoside (1); ergosta-5(6)-en-3β,25-diol-3-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-(1→2)-[α-L-
xylopyranosyl-(1→4)-β-D-glucopyranosyl (1→2)]-β-D-glucopyranoside (2); ergosta-3β,25-diol-3-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-
(1→2)-[β-D-glucopyranosyl-(1→6)]-β-D-glucopyranosyl (1→2)-β-D-glucopyranoside (3); ñholest-5(6)-ene-3β-ol-3-O-β-D-
xylopyranosyl-(1→4)-[β-D-xylpyranosyl-(1→2)]β-D-glucopyranoside (4); 26-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-25S-furostane-
5(6),20(22)-dien-3 β,26-diol-3-O-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1→4)-[α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1→4)]β-D-glucopyranoside (5),
26-O- α -L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1→3)- β -D-glucopyranosyl-25S-furostane-5(6),20(22)-dien-3 β ,26-diol-3-O- α -L-
rhamnopyranosyl-(1→4)-β-D-glucopyranoside (6) [2–5], 26-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-25S-furostane-20(22)-ene-3β,26-diol-3-
O-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1→4)-[α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1→4)]β-D-glucopyranoside (7) [6], 26-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-25S-
furostane-20(22)-ene-3β,26-diol-3-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-(1→4)-β-D-glucopyranoside (8) [7]; furostane-5(6),20(22)-dien-
3β,26-diol-3-O-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1→6)-[β-D-glucopyranosyl-(1→2)] β-D-glucopyranoside (9) [8], quercetin (10),
rutin (11) [9, 10], and aspartic acid (12) [11–13].
Comparing the physical and spectral data of these compounds (UV, IR, NMR, and MS) with the values obtained in
the literature, these compounds were obtained and characterized. Compounds 1–6 were found in A. officinalis for the first
time. A. officinalis samples were collected from Zhejiang traditional Chinese medicine market. The voucher samples were
identified by Professor Dacheng Jiang from Changchun University of Traditional Chinese medicine, Changchun City, Jilin
Province.
A. officinalis (10 kg) was chopped, soaked, and refluxed twice with 8 times the amount of 80% ethanol, for 3 h each
time. The extracts were combined and filtered, the solvent was recovered until the ethanol was to the ratio 1:4 of solvent
volume to medicinal material weight; then the flow extract was diluted with water, extracted with petroleum ether, ethyl
acetate and n-butanol respectively, each part of the extract was concentrated under reduced pressure to obtain 94 g of ethyl
acetate extract and 214 g of n-butanol extract, respectively. Take A. officinalis n-butanol paste, add 2 L of water to dissolve it
with a slight heat, let it stand, and take the supernatant pass through the treated D101 resin. First wash with water until the
color of the solution becomes lighter, then elute with 30% ethanol until the color of the solution becomes lighter, and finally
elute with 70% ethanol until the solution becomes lighter. Collect the 70% ethanol eluent, recover the solvent, concentrate it
to thick paste, and dry under reduced pressure to obtain dry paste (28.5 g). Take the dry paste, dissolve it with 70% methanol,
and add it to a silica gel column (100 g, 200–300 mesh), elute with methanol until the color becomes lighter, recover the

1) Changchun University of Chinese Medicine, 130117, Changchun, P. R. China, e-mail: ymm0277@163.com;

2) Jilin Provincial Academy of Chinese Medicine Sciences, 130021, Changchun, P. R. China, e-mail:wls68561@163.com. Published
in Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 2, March–April, 2023, pp. 345–346. Original article submitted February 22, 2022.

410 0009-3130/23/5902-0410 ©2023 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

solvent, and concentrate it to a thick paste, dissolve it with 60% methanol and pass it through an ODS column (20 cm × 5 cm)
for chromatographic separation, with gradient elution with methanol–water (60:40–100:0) to obtain five parts (Frs. 1–5).
Fraction 2 (9.8 g) was prepared and purified by HPLC to obtain compounds 1–4 [2–5]. Fraction 4 (3.5 g) was prepared and
purified by HPLC to obtain compounds 5–9 [2–5]. Take A. officinalis ethyl acetate paste, dissolve it in methanol, mix the
sample, add it to a silica gel column (1000 g, 200–300 mesh), and elute it with chloroform–methanol (10:1–0:1) gradient to
obtain ten fractions (Frs. 1–10). Fraction 4 was purified by ODS chromatography and Sephadex LH-20 to obtain compound
10. Fraction 7 was purified by ODS chromatography and Sephadex LH-20 to obtain compound 11. Use estradiol benzoate
combined with progesterone to replicate the rat model of mammary gland hyperplasia, observe the effect of asparagus ethanol
extract on mammary gland hyperplasia rats, and observe the effect of histopathology of mammary gland tissue in each group
under light microscopy. In the normal control group, there were no proliferative lesions of mammary cells, few acini, no
secretion of ducts, and no expansion of lumen. In the model control group, there were obvious mammary gland hyperplasia,
increased and enlarged lobules, the number of acini increased, and the acinar cavity and glandular duct cavity expanded. The
number of mammary lobules with hyperplasia in the A. officinalis ethanol extract group was significantly reduced, which had
a good therapeutic effect on mammary hyperplasia in rats.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The National Science and Technology Program of China (2017BAI38B05).

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