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Diosgenin



Diosgenin, a steroid sapogenin, is the product of hydrolysis by acids, strong bases, or enzymes of saponins, extracted from the tubers of Dioscorea wild yam. The sugar-free, aglycone, diosgenin is used for the commercial synthesis of progesterone, cortisone, and other steroid products. The unmodified steroid has estrogenic activity and can reduce the level of serum cholesterol. It is present in Costus speciosus, Smilax menispermoidea, species of Paris, Trigonella, and Trillium, and many species of Dioscorea - D. althaeoides, colletti, futschauensis, gracillima, hispida, hypoglauca, nipponica, panthaica, parviflora, septemloba, and zingiberensis.[1] Can be converted to synthetic pregnenolone and progesterone.

chemical name: Spirost-5-en-3-ol, (3beta,25R)-

Clinical Uses

References

  1. ^ 2950 Diosgenin. Retrieved on 2007-05-29.
 
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Diosgenin". A list of authors is available in Wikipedia.
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