In this study, we report the inter-organ, the sexual and the seasonal variability, of saponins contained in the common Mediterranean starfish Echinaster (Echinaster) sepositus. Saponins were extracted from five distinct body components namely the stomach, the pyloric caeca, the gonads, the oral body wall and aboral body wall. Of both sexes (males and females) collected at different seasons, the saponins mixtures were analyzed by Mass spectrometry (HR-ESI-MS and HR-ESI- MS/MS). Semi-quantitative approach was performed to estimate the variability of the saponin amounts. Our results demonstrated that the diversity of saponins in E. sepositus is higher than previously reported. We highlighted 11 different saponins, including 9 new congeners. Presumptive molecular structures are proposed for 6 molecules on the basis of key-fragmentations identified by HR-ESI-MS/MS. The comparison of the saponin contained in the five different body components revealed that minimum 3 saponins are common in all tissues. In addition, qualitative and quantitative variability of saponins compounds were linked to the organ, sex and the collecting season. The relative highest level of saponins was found in the stomach on the period of active feeding (winter). The significant higher levels of saponins were found in the gonads and oral body wall on the spawning period (summer). Generally, a great inter-organ, sexual and seasonal variability was found in both sexes. These results suggest that saponins probably fulfill several biological functions in E. sepositus.

在这项研究中，我们报告了常见的地中海海星Echinaster（Echinaster）存放物中所含皂苷的器官间，性和季节性变化。皂苷是从五种不同的身体成分中提取的，这些成分是胃，幽门盲肠，性腺，口腔体壁和胃底体壁。在不同季节收集的男女（男性和女性）中，通过质谱分析（HR-ESI-MS和HR-ESI-MS / MS）分析皂苷混合物。进行半定量方法来估计皂苷量的变化。我们的结果表明，E。sepositus中皂苷的多样性高于以前的报告。我们重点介绍了11种不同的皂苷，包括9种新的同源物。根据HR-ESI-MS / MS识别的关键片段，提出了6个分子的推测分子结构。比较五种不同身体成分中的皂苷，发现在所有组织中至少有3种皂苷是常见的。此外，皂苷化合物的定性和定量变化与器官，性别和采集季节有关。在积极进食（冬季）期间，胃中皂苷的相对含量最高。在产卵期（夏季），在性腺和口腔壁中发现了较高含量的皂苷。通常，在两性中都发现很大的器官间，性和季节变异性。大肠杆菌（E. sepositus）。