Resin glycosides from the yellow-skinned variety of sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas).

Native to tropical America, Ipomoea batatas has been cultivated for over 5000 years in Mexico. The yellow-skinned tuber crop variety, with an orange flesh, has a higher nutritional value than potato. Raw sweet potato can cause a purge due to its resin glycoside content. Purification of the chloroform-soluble resin glycosides from the roots of this variety was accomplished by preparative-scale HPLC, which allowed for the collection of six oligosaccharides, batatin VII (1) and batatinosides VII-IX (2-4), all of novel structure, together with the known resin glycosides pescaprein I and batatinoside IV. High-field NMR spectroscopy and FAB mass spectrometry were used to characterize each structure, identifying operculinic acid A for compounds 2 and 4, and simonic acid B for 3, as their pentasaccharide glycosidic cores. Batatin VII (1) represents a dimer of the know batatinoside IV, consisting of two units of simonic acid B.