Two new steroidal saponins from Maianthemum henryi and their cytotoxic activity against human HepG2 tumor cells.

Two new steroidal saponins (1 and 2), along with four known ones (3 ∼ 6) were obtained from the roots and rhizomes of Maianthemum henryi, their structures were determined to be spirost-5, 25(27)-diene-lβ, 3β-diol 1-O-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1 → 2)-4-O-acetyl-β-D-fucopyranoside (1), (23S, 24S)-spirost-5, 25(27)-diene-lβ, 3β, 23, 24-tetrol 1-O-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1 → 2)-4-O-acetyl-β-D-fucopyranoside (2), spirost-5, 25(27)-diene-lβ, 3β-diol 1-O-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1 → 2)-β-D-fucopyranoside (3), spirost-5, 25(27)-diene-lβ, 3β-diol 1-O-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1 → 2)-β-D-xylopyranoside (4), Henryioside A (5)、Henryioside B (6), by physicochemical properties and spectroscopic methods. In addition, their cytotoxic activity against human HepG2 tumor cells was evaluated by MTT method and all of the compounds exhibited cytotoxicity with the cells.