Three 20(
S)-protopanaxatriol-type saponins, ginsenoside-Rg
1 (
1), notoginsenoside-R
1 (
2), and ginsenoside-Re (
3), weretransformed by the fungus
Absidia coerulea (AS 3.3389). Compound
1 was converted into five metabolites, ginsenoside-Rh
4 (
4), 3
,2
,25-trihydroxydammar-(
E)-20(22)-ene-6-
O-
-
D-glucopyranoside (
5), 20(
S)-ginsenoside-Rh
1 (
6), 20(
R)-ginsenoside-Rh
1 (
7), and a mixture of 25-hydroxy-20(
S)-ginsenoside-Rh
1 and its C-20(
R) epimer (
8). Compound
2 wasconverted into 10 metabolites, 20(
S)-notoginsenoside-R
2 (
9), 20(
R)-notoginsenoside-R
2 (
10), 3
,12
,25-trihydroxydammar-(
E)-20(22)-ene-6-
O-
-
D-xylopyranosyl-(1
2)-
-
D-glucopyranoside (
11), 3
,12
-dihydroxydammar-(
E)-20(22),24-diene-6-
O-
-
D-xylopyranosyl-(1
2)-
-
D-glucopyranoside (
12), 3
,12
,20,25-tetrahydroxydammaran-6-
O-
-
D-xylopyranosyl-(1
2)-
-
D-glucopyranoside (
13), and compounds
4-
8. Compound
3 was metabolized to 20(
S)-ginsenoside-Rg
2 (
14),20(
R)-ginsenoside-Rg
2 (
15), 3
,12
,25-trihydroxydammar-(
E)-20(22)-ene-6-
O-
-
L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1
2)-
-
D-glucopyranoside (
16), 3
,12
-dihydroxydammar-(
E)-20(22),24-diene-6-
O-
-
L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1
2)-
-
D-glucopyranoside(
17), 3
,12
,20,25-tetrahydroxydammaran-6-
O-
-
L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1
2)-
-
D-glucopyranoside (
18), and compounds
4-
8. The structures of five new metabolites,
10-
13 and
16, were established by spectroscopic methods.