New triterpenoid saponins from fruits specimens of Panax japonicus collected in Kumamoto and Miyazaki prefectures (1).

Seven new dammarane-type triterpenoid saponins, chikusetsusaponin FK1 (1), chikusetsusaponin FK2 (2), chikusetsusaponin FK3 (3), chikusetsusaponin FK4 (4), chikusetsusaponin FK5 (5), chikusetsusaponin FK6 (6), and chikusetsusaponin FK7 (7), and eleven known triterpenoid saponins, ginsenoside Rb3 (9), ginsenoside Rc (10), chikusetsusaponin VI (11), ginsenoside Re (12), ginsenoside Rg1 (13), pseudo-ginsenoside RS1 (14), notoginsenoside R1 (15), chikusetsusaponin L5) (17), chikusetsusaponin L10 (18), chikusetsusaponin IVa (19), and chikusetsusaponin V (20), were isolated from the fruits of Panax japonicus C. A. MEYER, collected in Kumamoto prefecture, Japan, and two new dammarane-type triterpenoid saponin, chikusetsusaponin FK5 (5) and chikusetsusaponin FM1 (8), and five known triterpenoid saponins, ginsenoside Rb3 (9), ginsenoside Rc (10), ginsenoside Re (12), ginsenoside Rg1 (13), and floralquinquenoside E (16), were isolated from the fruits of P. japonicus C. A. MEYER, collected in Miyazaki prefecture, Japan. The structures of new chikusetsusaponins were elucidated on the basis of chemical and physicochemical evidences.