Antifungal activity was detected in the crude saponin fraction obtained from the bottom cut of Asparagus officinalis L. This activity was specific to certain fungi, for example Candida, Cryptococcus, Trichophyton, Microsporum and Epidermophyton.Attempts were made to isolate the active principles from this fraction; in this way a new saponin (AS-1) was isolated, and its structure was estimated to be 3-0-[{/?-D-glucopyranosyl(l-åº2)}{)5-D-xylopyranosyl(l -åº 4)-/?-D-glucopyranosyl]-(255'),5/?spirostan-3/J-ol.The minimuminhibitory concentration (MIC) ranged from 0.5 /ig/ml to more than 8/fg/ml depending upon the nature of the fungi.On the basis of the work carried out here, it is probable that asparagus will contain additional antifungal principles.To date, many saponins have been isolatedand characterized from asparagus.1}These
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Shimoyamada et al. (1990) studied this question.