Chemical constituents and bioactivity of Formosan lauraceous plants

Abstract

Taiwan is rich in lauraceous plants. A review of 197 references based on the chemical analysis and bioactivity of indigenous lauraceous plants carried out by native scientists from 1963 to 2014 has been compiled. About 303 new compounds and thousands of known compounds comprising alkaloids and non-alkaloids with diverse structures have been isolated or identified from indigenous plants belonging to the 11 lauraceous genera. The volatile components, however, have been excluded from this review. This review provides an overview of the past efforts of Taiwan scientists working on secondary metabolites and their bioactivity in native lauraceous plants. The potential of lauraceous plants worthy of further study is also noted. The contents will be helpful for the chemotaxonomy of Lauraceae and be of value for the development of native Formosan lauraceous plants.

Keywords: Bioactivity; Chemical constituents; Lauraceae; Review; Taiwan.

Fig. 1

Structures of new compounds from Beilschmiedia (1–34).

Fig. 2

Structures of new compounds from Cassytha (35–44) and Cinnamomum (45–84).

Fig. 3

Structures of new compounds from Cryptocarya (85–116).

Fig. 4

Structures of new compounds from Dehaasia (117–126) and Lindera (127–145).

Fig. 5

Structures of new compounds from Litsea (146–189).

Fig. 6

Structures of new compounds from Machilus (190–237).

Fig. 7

Structures of new compounds from Neolitsea (238–294).

Fig. 8

Structures of new compounds from Phoebe (295–297) and Sassafras (298–303).