Cholesterol Lowering Vegetables: Quantification of Soyasaponins in Lentils.

The present work is to isolate soyasaponins I and VI from soybeans used as standards for quantitative analysis of soyasaponins in legumes. This because authentic and pure soyasaponin standards are hard to find from commercial sources because of their low stability; this is especially true for the thermolabile soyasaponin VI [1]. Obtained pure compounds were characterized by mass spectrometry analysis. Quantification of Soyasaponins I and VI on different varieties of Italian lentils mainly from central Italy, like those from Castelluccio di Norcia, which are quite famous and have obtained the IGP certification, were performed.