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Review
. 2020 Jan 6;18(1):41.
doi: 10.3390/md18010041.

Chemical Diversity in Species Belonging to Soft Coral Genus Sacrophyton and Its Impact on Biological Activity: A Review

Yasmin A Elkhawas  1 , Ahmed M Elissawy  2   3 , Mohamed S Elnaggar  2   3 , Nada M Mostafa  2 , Eman M Kamal  2 , Mokhtar M Bishr  4 , Abdel Nasser B Singab  2   3 , Osama M Salama  1
Affiliations
Review

Chemical Diversity in Species Belonging to Soft Coral Genus Sacrophyton and Its Impact on Biological Activity: A Review

Yasmin A Elkhawas et al. Mar Drugs. .

Abstract

One of the most widely distributed soft coral species, found especially in shallow waters of the Indo-Pacific region, Red Sea, Mediterranean Sea, and also the Arctic, is genus Sacrophyton. The total number of species belonging to it was estimated to be 40. Sarcophyton species are considered to be a reservoir of bioactive natural metabolites. Secondary metabolites isolated from members belonging to this genus show great chemical diversity. They are rich in terpenoids, in particular, cembranoids diterpenes, tetratepenoids, triterpenoids, and ceramide, in addition to steroids, sesquiterpenes, and fatty acids. They showed a broad range of potent biological activities, such as antitumor, neuroprotective, antimicrobial, antiviral, antidiabetic, antifouling, and anti-inflammatory activity. This review presents all isolated secondary metabolites from species of genera Sacrophyton, as well as their reported biological activities covering a period of about two decades (1998-2019). It deals with 481 metabolites, including 323 diterpenes, 39 biscembranoids, 11 sesquiterpenes, 53 polyoxygenated sterols, and 55 miscellaneous and their pharmacological activities.

Keywords: Sacrphyton; anti-inflammatory; antidiabetic; antimicrobial; antitumor; soft coral; terpenoids.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Worldwide distribution of chemically studied Sarcophyton soft coral.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Pie chart showing the percentage of each class of metabolites identified in Sarcophyton sp.
Figure 3
Figure 3
A diagram of isolated classes from each Sarcophyton sp.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Diterpenes reported from Sarcophyton sp.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Diterpenes reported from Sarcophyton sp.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Diterpenes reported from Sarcophyton sp.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Diterpenes reported from Sarcophyton sp.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Biscembranes reported from Sarcophyton sp.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Sesquiterpenes reported from Sarcophyton sp.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Polyhydroxylated sterols reported from Sarcophyton sp.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Miscellaneous isolated from Sacrophyton sp.
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