A kuguaglycoside is one of several chemical compounds (cucurbitane triterpenoid glycosides) isolated from the roots of the

bitter melon ''Momordica charantia'' (commonly called bitter melon, cerassee, goya, bitter apple, bitter gourd, bitter squash, balsam-pear, karela, karavila and many more #Uses, names listed below) is a tropical and subtropical vine of the family Cucurbitac ...

vine (''Momordica charantia'', ''kǔguā'' in Chinese) by J.-C. Chen and others.Jian-Chao Chen, Lu Lu, Xian-Ming Zhang, Lin Zhou, Zhong-Rong Li, and Ming-Hua Qiu (2008), "Eight New Cucurbitane Glycosides, Kuguaglycosides A–H, from the Root of ''Momordica charantia'' L.". ''Helvetica Chimica Acta'', volume 91, issue 5, pages 920-928. Kuguaglycosides are

glycoside In chemistry, a glycoside is a molecule in which a sugar is bound to another functional group via a glycosidic bond. Glycosides play numerous important roles in living organisms. Many plants store chemicals in the form of inactive glycosides. ...

s of

triterpene Triterpenes are a class of terpenes composed of six isoprene units with the molecular formula C30H48; they may also be thought of as consisting of three terpene units. Animals, plants and fungi all produce triterpenes, including squalene, the pre ...

derivatives, with the

cucurbitane Cucurbitane is a tetracyclic chemical compound with formula . It is a polycyclic hydrocarbon, specifically triterpene. It is also an isomer of lanostane (specifically 19(10→9β)-abeolanostane), from which it differs by the formal shift of ...

skeleton. They are colorless solids, soluble in

methanol Methanol (also called methyl alcohol and wood spirit, amongst other names) is an organic chemical compound and the simplest aliphatic Alcohol (chemistry), alcohol, with the chemical formula (a methyl group linked to a hydroxyl group, often ab ...

ethyl acetate Ethyl acetate commonly abbreviated EtOAc, ETAC or EA) is the organic compound with the formula , simplified to . This flammable, colorless liquid has a characteristic sweet smell (similar to pear drops) and is used in glues, nail polish removers, ...

, and

butanol Butanol (also called butyl alcohol) is a four-carbon alcohol with a formula of C4 H9 OH, which occurs in five isomeric structures (four structural isomers), from a straight-chain primary alcohol to a branched-chain tertiary alcohol; all are a bu ...

. They include: * Kuguaglycoside A: 3β-hydroxy-7β-methoxycucurbita-5,24-dien-23-yl β-glucopyranoside, * Kuguaglycoside B: 3β-hydroxy-25-methoxycucurbita-5,23-dien-7β-yl β-glucopyranoside, * Kuguaglycoside C: 7β-(β-glucopyranosyloxy)-3β-hydroxycucurbita-5,23,25-trien-19-al, (colorless needles) * Kuguaglycoside D: 3β,19,23-trihydroxycucurbita-5,24-dien-7β-yl β-glucopyranoside, * Kuguaglycoside E: 23-(β-glucopyranosyloxy)-3β,19-dihydroxycucurbita-5,24-dien-7β-yl β-glucopyranoside, * Kuguaglycoside F: 23-(β-glucopyranosyloxy)-7β-methoxycucurbita-5,24-dien-3β-yl β-allopyranoside, * Kuguaglycoside G: 23-(β-glucopyranosyloxy)-3β-hydroxycucurbita-5,24-dien-7β-yl β-glucopyranoside, * Kuguaglycoside H: 23-(β-glucopyranosyl(1→2)-β-glucopyranosyl)-3β-hydroxycucurbita-5,24-dien-7β-yl β-glucopyranoside, (colorless needles) Kuguaglycoside B is also found in the fruit of ''M. charantia''.Jie-Qing Liu, Jian-Chao Chen, Cui-Fang Wang and Ming-Hua Qiu (2009), "New Cucurbitane Triterpenoids and Steroidal Glycoside from ''Momordica charantia''". ''Molecules'', volume 14, pages 4804-4813

References

{{Chemistry index Triterpene glycosides