How are plant compounds such as diosgenin used to manufacture steroid medicines?

Plant compounds such as diosgenin are utilized in the pharmaceutical industry through a process known as partial synthesis. Rather than building complex steroid molecules from scratch, chemists modify naturally abundant plant steroids that already possess a favorable molecular structure.1

Diosgenin, which is obtained from various yams in the genus Dioscorea, serves as a vital starting material for the commercial manufacture of progesterone. Once produced, this progesterone can be further converted into a wide array of steroid hormones, including androgenic and estrogenic hormones, as well as complex adrenal hormones like cortisol and cortisone.12

This method is highly practical because these plant-derived sapogenins are abundant and their structures can be efficiently transformed into the desired therapeutic products. Additionally, the use of microorganisms to introduce specific functional groups, such as hydroxyl groups, has further advanced the ability to synthesize a large number of steroid hormone analogs from these plant precursors.12