Dammarane type saponins of leaves of Panax japonicus C.A. Meyer. 2. Saponins of the specimens collected in Tottori-ken, Kyoto-shi, and Niigata-ken.

Abstract
Isolation and structure determination of leaf-saponins of P. japonicus C.A. MEYER (Araliaceae) collected in Hiroshima-ken had already been reported. The aglycones of these saponins are represented by 20 (S)-protopanaxatriol (7) and its homologue (modification of the side chain). The present study revealed that the composition of leaf-saponins of this plant significantly depend upon the localities. From the leaves collected in Tottoriken (T-type), there were isolated two dammarane type saponins, named chikusetsusaponins-LT5 (11) and-LT8 (12), the former of which was also obtained from the leaves collected in Kyoto-shi (K-type). By means of 13C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and other physical procedures, the structures of 11 and 12 were established to be dammar-24-ene-3β, 20S-diol-3-(O-β-glucopyranoside)-20-[O-β-glucopyranosyl (1→6)-β-glucopyranoside] and dammar-24-ene-3β, 20S-diol-12-one-3, 20-di (O-β-glucopyranoside), respectively. On the other hand, the leaves collected in Niigata-ken (N-type) afforded a saponin named chikusetsusaponin-LN4 (13), the structure of which was assigned as dammar-24-ene-3β, 20S-diol-12-one-3-[O-β-xylopyranosyl (1→6)-β-glucopyranoside]-20-[O-α-arabinopyranosyl (1→6)-β-glucopyranoside]. These saponins, 11, 12, and 13 are characteristic of the leaves of T-, K-, and N-types, respectively and were not detected in the leaves collected in Hiroshima-ken (H-type), while the leaf-saponins of H-type were not isolated from the leaves of T-, K-, and N-types.