中文摘要：

薯蓣皂苷及其苷元来源于药用植物盾叶薯蓣块茎,是合成甾体激素类药物的重要原料。由于野生盾叶薯蓣资源日渐枯竭及薯蓣皂苷及其苷元制备生产中的严重污染等问题,使其开发和生产面临严重的挑战。本文探讨了薯蓣皂苷及其苷元生产研究进展及存在的问题,概述了薯蓣皂苷及其苷元的代谢途径研究进展,展望了生物技术在薯蓣皂苷及其苷元生物合成中的应用前景。

英文摘要：

The dioscin and diosgenin consist in the tubers of Dioscorea zingiberensis, and are important raw material of making steroidal medicine. But now its exploitation and producing are facing with many challenges, for the wild D. zingiberensis resource dries up gradually and gravely contamination during tire producing of the dioscin and diosgenin. With the development of plant genetic engineering technique, it has given the chance to solve these problems. The research progress and problems of the dioscin and diosgenin production were outlined, and the metabolic pathway of dioscin and diosgenin in the plant were summarized, and the prospective application of biotechnology for the dioscin and diosgenin biosynthesis was discussed in this paper.