A potent natural alpha-glucosidase inhibitor called kotalanol has been isolated from an antidiabetic traditional Ayurvedic medicine, the roots and stems of Salacia reticulata Wight, through bioassay-guided separation. The structure of kotalanol was elucidated on the basis of chemical and physicochemical evidence to be the inner salt comprised of 1-deoxyheptosyl-3-sulfate anion and 1-deoxy-4-thio-D-arabinofuranosyl sulfonium cation. Kotalanol was found to show more potent inhibitory activity against sucrase than salacinol and acarbose.

Adjuvant and haemolytic activities of 47 saponins purified from medicinal and food plants were examined. The compounds showed various levels of both adjuvant and haemolytic activities. Soyasaponins and lablabosides showed strong adjuvant activity but little haemolytic activity. Jujubosides showed strong adjuvant and haemolytic activities. Escins showed weaker adjuvant activity than the adjuvant-control, but strong haemolytic activity. Comparison of the functional groups of each saponin revealed that the acyl residue in saponin, the aldehyde group at carbon 4 in aglycone, and branched sugar chains attached to aglycone, were not essential for adjuvant activity. Furthermore, saponins with an acyl residue or oxide-ring moiety tended to show haemolytic activity. These results suggest that the adjuvant activity of saponins does not relate with haemolytic activity. It is considered that not only the functional groups themselves, but the overall conformation harmoniously consisting of such functional groups, affects adjuvant activity of saponins.