Saponins of two alfalfa cultivars

A saponin mixture was separated from the forage of DuPuits and Lahontan cultivars of Medicago sativa and found to contain about 30 saponins. Glucose, galactose, xylose, arabinose and rhamnose, were the principal sugars; the sapogenins comprised soyasapogenols A and B, lucernic acid, medicagenic acid together with four unidentified but related triterpenoids. Medicagenic acid was the predominant sapogenin of the DuPuits cultivar, whereas soyasapogenot A was prominent in Lahontan saponins. Galactose was found in the saponins of monocarboxylic or nonacidic sapogenins but was absent in those containing dicarboxylic sapogenins, such as medicagenic acid.