Cytotoxic steroidal saponins from the rhizomes of Paris fargesii var. Petiolata

[Display omitted] •The isolation and identification of the chemical compounds from Paris fargesii var. petiolata were studied.•Eleven steroidal saponins were characterized from the plant, including five new steroid saponins (1–5) and six known analogues (6–11).•Compound 1 displayed certain anti-proliferative properties for U87, HepG2 and SGC-7901 cells. Phytochemical investigation on the rhizomes of Paris fargesii var. petiolata (Baker ex C. H. Wright) Wang et Tang led to the isolation of five previously undescribed steroidal saponins, parpetiosides A–E (1–5), and six known analogs (6–11). Their structures were established by extensive spectroscopic data analysis and chemical methods. Compound 5 was a rare steroidal saponin with disaccharide moiety linked at C-26 of dehydrokryptogenin that was hardly seen in the genus Paris. The cytotoxicities of the isolated compounds against three human cancer cell lines (U87, HepG2 and SGC-7901) were evaluated, and compound 1 displayed certain inhibitory effect with IC50 values of 8.02 ± 0.45, 8.24 ± 0.57 and 6.20 ± 0.79 μM, respectively. Moreover, the preliminary mechanism of 1 inhibiting the proliferation of the three cancer cell lines might be related to cell cycle distribution and the induction of S phase arrest.