Diosgenin, a phytosteroid sapogenin, is the product of hydrolysis by acids, strong bases, or enzymes of saponins, extracted from the tubers of Dioscorea wild yam species, such as the Kokoro. It is also present in smaller amounts in a number of other species. The sugar-free (aglycone) product of such hydrolysis, diosgenin is used for the commercial synthesis of cortisone, pregnenolone, progesterone, and other steroid products.
Sources
It is present in detectable amounts in
Costus speciosus,
Smilax menispermoidea,
Helicteres isora, species of
Paris,
Aletris,
Trigonella, and
Trillium, and in extractable amounts from many species of
Dioscorea –
D. althaeoides,
D. colletti,
D. composita,
,
D. futschauensis,
D. gracillima,
D. hispida,
D. hypoglauca,
D. mexicana,
,
D. panthaica,
D. parviflora,
D. septemloba, and
D. zingiberensis.
Industrial uses
Diosgenin is a chemical precursor for several hormones, starting with the Marker degradation process, which includes synthesis of
progesterone.
The process was used in the early manufacturing of combined oral contraceptive pills.
Diosgenin in dietary supplements is not a physiological precursor to
estradiol or
progesterone, and the use of such products as
wild yam has no estrogenic hormonal activity in the human body.
[Medigović I, Ristić N, Živanović J, Šošić-Jurjević B, Filipović B, Milošević V, Nestorović N “Diosgenin does not express estrogenic activity: a uterotrophic assay” Can J Physiol Pharmacol. 2014 Apr;92(4):292-8. doi: 10.1139/cjpp-2013-0419. Epub 2014 Feb 5. PMID 24708211]
See also
External links
