I'm guessing they're
synthesized from a naturally occuring precursor. The first 75 words of this article says that most steroid
horomones are synthsized from the plant compound diosgenin, which comes from yams.
http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?tocId=82326
Here's a slightly older article from Pubmed that says the same
thing.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=122551 32&dopt=Abstract
I
also found information on hecogenin and tigogenin, which are also plant saponins like diosgenin.
Hecogenin is used
to make corticosteroids.
Tigogenin is used to make anabolic, estrogens, and contraceptives.
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