| abstract |
Disclosed are soluble extractives prepared from non-woody plants of the genus Hesperaloe and processes for preparing the same. The extracts preferably comprise at least one saponin. In certain instances, the process includes providing biomass derived from non-woody plants of the genus Hesperaloe, milling the biomass, washing the biomass with a solvent to yield a crude extract and optionally further purifying the crude extract by filtration to remove water insoluble compositions such as fibers, fines, epidermal debris and lipids. Preferably, the composition extracted from Hesperaloe comprises 25(27)-dehydrofucreastatin, 5(6),25(27)-disdehydroyuccaloiside C, 5(6)-disdehydroyuccaloiside, C, furcreastatin, yuccaloiside, or a mixture thereof. |