Phytochemical characterization of a commercial herb sample supplied as Smilax ornata Lem. (sarsaparilla)
led to the isolation of five steroidal saponins, including two new furostanol saponins sarsaparilloside
B (1) and sarsaparilloside C (2), whose structures were elucidated via a combination of multistage
mass spectrometry (MSn), 1D and 2D NMR experiments, and chemical degradation. The previously unreported
spectroscopic characterization of sarsaparilloside (3), D20(22)-sarsaparilloside (4), and parillin (5) is
also provided. The antiproliferative activity of the isolated saponins was compared in six human cell lines
derived from different tumor types and one of the structures (2) was particularly active against the HT29
colon tumor cell line.