ABSTRACT
Objective: To study the chemical constituents of the acid hydrolysis products, in order to find some new aglycones from the hydrolysate of the saponin of Centella asiatica. Methods: The acid hydrolytic product was separated by repeated silica gel, Sephadex LH-20 chromatography. The cytotoxic activities in vitro of some compounds isolated were evaluated. Their structures isolated were identified by analysis of their spectral data of NMR, MS, IR, and UV. Results: Four aglycones, 2α,3β,23-trihydroxyurs-6,12-dien-28-oic acid (1), asiatic acid (2), 6β-hydroxy asiatic acid (3), terminolic acid (4), were isolated from the hydrolysis product. Conclusions: Compound 1, named centella-6-ene, was a new ursane-type aglycone and it showed no cytotoxic activities against the tested cancer cell lines.