Quantitative estimation of monohydroxy saturated steroidal sapogenins in plant materials by densitometric thin-layer chromatography

Investigation of spectrophotometrically determined substances in Yucca extract by GC/MS, TLC and on-column injection GC

Spectrophotometrically determined substances in Yucca extract, listed as "Yucca foam extract" in the "List of Existing Food Additives in Japan", were investigated by GC/MS, TLC and GC. A TLC method using an anisaldehyde color developing reagent similar to that employed in spectrophotometry was established for selective detection of sapogenins in Yucca extract. Several steroidal sapogenins were found by GC/MS in the fractions corresponding to spots on the TLC plate, and these were assumed to have contributed to the color development in spectrophotometry. Sarsasapogenin and smilagenin were the dominant sapogenins. An on-column injection GC method to determine these sapogenins in Yucca extract was also developed. The sum of these two sapogenins in Yucca extract was 0.9%. The total amount of sapogenin estimated by GC was approximately 2%, which was similar to that measured by spectrophotometry.

A quantitative gas-liquid chromatographic method for the estimation of hecogenin and tigogenin in the leaves, juice and sapogenin concentrates of Agave sisalana

A gas-liquid chromatographic method has been devised for the routine estimation of the hecogenin [3beta-hydroxy-(25R)-5beta-spirostan-12-one] and tigogenin [ (25R)-5beta-spirostan-3beta-ol] contents of Agave sisalana leaf and juice samples and of the crude sapogenin concentrates known as "coffee grounds". Because of partial degradation of the sapogenins in the GLC system it was found necessary to acetylate the compounds prior to their estimation. In East African samples the tigogenin proportion of the total sapogenin content is usually about 10%. At this level, the 95% inverse tolerance limits on predicted tigogenin weights are approximately +/- 7%.