Abstract
The edible portion of sea cucumber, body walls, is a source of natural bioactive compounds. Triterpene saponins are the main chemical constituents in sea cucumber that have potential interest for the body health and food industry. Twenty-one lanostane-type non-sulphated triterpene glycosides were isolated from the methanol/methylene chloride extract of the body walls of
Bohadschia cousteaui
. Ten new saponins called coustesides A (
1
), B (
3
), C (
9
), D (
10
), E (
11
), F (
12
), G (
15
), H (
16
), I (
17
) and J (
18
), including two pentasaccharide and eight hexasaccharide saponins, together with eleven known triterpene glycosides, were isolated by reversed-phase semi-preparative HPLC. Their structures were mainly determined by 1D- and 2D-NMR (
1
H,
13
C, COSY, TOCSY, HSQC, HMBC and ROESY) as well as MS experiments and acid hydrolysis. Most of the isolated compounds showed good antifungal activity against
Candida albicans
. Moreover, sea cucumber
B. cousteaui
is a rich source of biologically active saponins. Therefore, sea cucumbers are eaten for their therapeutic values as a functional food than for their seafood taste.