Abstract
Aqueous methanol/water extracts of the Oriental crude drug “sanyaku”, Dioscorea japonica and D. batatas rhizophors, notably lowered blood glucose concentration in mice. Activity-guided fractionation of the extract from D. japonica afforded six glycans, dioscorans A, B, C, D, E, and F, which exhibited remarkable hypoglycemic effects in normal and alloxan-induced hyperglycemic mice.
