Can Tho city is a city directly under the Central Government in the Mekong Delta region with many valuable medicinal species including Polyscias balfouriana, but there have not been many in-depth studies on the chemical composition grown in this area. Therefore, this issue needs to be studied in order to develop and preserve the precious medicinal resources of Can Tho City, Vietnam. Leaves of Polyscias balfouriana grown in Can Tho were sampled, identified the correct species of the study, then extracted and fractionated by the technique of exhaust extraction and liquid-liquid extraction, obtained fractions. The fractions were further isolated by chromatographic techniques and their chemical structures determined by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The results isolated 4 saponin triterpen compounds including Ladyginosid A (1), 3-O-b-D-glucopyranosyl-(1→4)-b-D-glucuronopyranosyl oleanolic 28-O-b-D-glucopyranosyl ester  (2), acid 3-O-[β-D-glucopyranosyl-(1à4)]-b-D-(6-O-methyl) glucuronopyranosyloleanolic (3), 3-O-b-D-glucuronopyranosyloleanolic 28-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl ester (4). The structure was determined by 1-dimensional 2D NMR nuclear magnetic resonance and compared with reference material. The above four compounds found in the leaves of Polyscias balfouriana provide basic data for further studies on pharmacological effects later.

Keywords: Polyscias balfouriana, Araliaceae, saponin triterpen.