Objective To investigate the relationship between the structure and activity in protection of soyasaponins against palmitic acid (PA)-induced oxidative stress in primary mouse hepatocytes.Methods The primary mouse hepatocytes were treated with 0.05 mmol/L PA in the presence or absence of soyasaponins (10μg/ml) for 16h. The activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), the contents of malondialdehyde (MDA), triglyceride (TG) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) were determined.Results PA treatment significantly lowered cellular SOD and GSH-Px activities (P<0.05), increased the contents of MDA and TG (P<0.05) and the production of ROS in mitochondria was elevated (P<0.05). When compared to the treatment of PA alone, the combined treatment of soyasaponins and PA significantly increased the activities of SOD and GSH-Px (P<0.05) and decreased the contents of MDA, TG and ROS (P<0.05). It was found that soyasaponin-A1 or A2 significantly increased the cellular activities of SOD and GSH-Px (P<0.05) and decreased the contents of MDA and ROS as compared with soyasapogenol-A (P<0.05). Similarly, soyasaponin-I significantly increased activities of cellular SOD and GSH-Px (P<0.05) and decreased the content of ROS as compared with soyasapogenol-B (P<0.05).Conclusion Soyasaponins possess antioxidant activity against PA-induced oxidative stress in primary mouse hepatocytes. Soyasaponin-A1, A2 and I are stronger than their corresponding soyasapogenols (soyasapogenol-A and B) in antioxidant activity, probably due to the sugar moieties presented in their chemical structures.