Ginsenosides Rb₁, Rb₂, Rc, Rd, Re and Rg₁ (GRb₁, GRb₂ and so on) isolated from the roots of Panax ginseng C.A. MEYER, and their 20S- and 20R-prosapogenins (S-PS and R-PS), 20S- and 20R-protopanaxadiols (S-PPD and R-PPD), and a mixture of 20S- and 20R-panaxadiols (SR-PD) at various doses were administered to rats intraperitoneally. Plasma corticosterone and glucose levels at 30 min after the administration were determined, and ED₅₀ values for corticosterone level were estimated. The ED₅₀ values of GRd, GRb₂, GRc and GRb₁ were 7.1, 20, 44 and 112μmol/kg, respectively. ED₅₀ of S-PS, the genuine prosapogenin of GRb₁, GRb₂, GRc and GRd, which has no sugar residue attached to the C-20 position, was 28μmol/kg, and the artifact prosapogenin R-PS also showed nearly the same activity, 26μmol/kg. The ED₅₀ values of genuine and artifact sapogenins S- and R-PPD were 42 and 32μmol/kg, respectively, but an epimeric mixture of two artifact sapogenins SR-PD showed no activity at a dose of 80μmol/kg. The ED₅₀ values of GRe and GRg₁, glycosides of 20S-protopanaxatriol, were 107 and >160μmol/kg, respectively. Most of these 11 compounds did not significantly affect the plasma glucose level at 30 min after the treatment.