Isolation of Soya-cerebroside I from the Roots of Trichosanthes kirilowii

In addition to known cucurbitacins, a glucosphingosine type cerebroside and amino acids were isolated from the roots of Trichosanthes kirilowii. The structure of cerebroside was determined as soya-cerebroside I by means of spectroscopic methods. Fifteen amino acids were identified as aspartic acid, glutamic acid, serine, glycine, histidine, citrulline, threonine, alanine, proline, tyrosine, valine, isoleucine, leucine, phenylalanine and tryptophan, among which the major components such as citrulline, phenylalanine, leucine/isoleucine and valine were isolated.