Recent Progress in Structural Modification and Activities on Panax notoginseng Saponins

Abstract This paper reviews recent progress in the structural modification and activities on Panax notoginseng saponins (PNS). PNS can not only improve the function of cardio-cerebral system,central nervous system and immune system,but also reveal anticancer,anti-aging and antioxidation activities. In order to solve the problem of low bioavailability and poor absorbability of PNS in vivo,usually,the researchers modified the structure of PNS with three methods:glycoside cleavage (including acid hydrolysis,sulfation,etc.),biotransformation method (including enzyme hydrolysis,microbial transformation) and combinatorial chemical method. It was found that the structural modification sites of PNS were single,mainly aimed at C-3,C-6 and C-20,which provided a new perspective for the structural modification of PNS. Therefore,structural modification on PNS with high yield and ready availability are significant in the discovery of new active ingredients and industrialization. Derivatives of PNS are applied to research of structure-activity relationship,which is beneficial to the development of new medicines.