Generation of group B soyasaponins I and III by hydrolysis.

Soyasaponins are a group of oleanane triterpenoids found in soy and other legumes that have been associated with some of the benefits achieved by consuming plant-based diets. However, these groups of compounds are diverse and structurally complicated to chemically characterize, separate from the isoflavones, and isolate in sufficient quantities for bioactive testing. Therefore, the aim of this study was to maximize the extraction of soyasaponins from soy flour, remove isoflavones, separate group B soyasaponins from group A, and produce an extract that contained a majority of non-DDMP (2,3-dihydro-2,5-dihydroxy-6-methyl-4H-pyran-4-one)-conjugated group B soyasaponins I and III. Room temperature extraction in methanol for 24 or 48 h resulted in the maximum recovery of soyasaponins, and Soxhlet extraction resulted in the least. A solid-phase extraction using methanol (45%) was found to virtually eliminate the interfering isoflavones as compared to butanol-water liquid-liquid extraction and ammonium sulfate precipitation, while maximizing saponin recovery. Alkaline hydrolysis in anhydrous methanol produced the maximum amount of soyasaponins I and III as compared to aqueous methanol and acid hydrolysis in both aqueous and anhydrous methanol. The soyasaponin I amount was increased by 175%, and soyasaponin III was increased by 211% after alkaline hydrolysis. Furthermore, after alkaline hydrolysis, a majority of DDMP-conjugated group B soyasaponins such as betag, betaa, gammag, and gammaa transformed into the non-DDMP-conjugated soyasaponins I and III without affecting the glycosidic bond at position C-3 of the ring structure. Therefore, we have developed a method that maximizes the recovery of DDMP-conjugated saponins and uses alkaline hydrolysis to produce an extract containing mainly soyasaponins I and III.