Flavonoids and other Non-Alkaloidal Constituents of Genus Erythrina: Phytochemical Review

Background: Genus Erythrina belongs to the family Fabaceae, which is widely distributed in tropical and subtropical areas. It has been used in both traditional herbal medicines and pharmacological applications. Original research articles and publications on the overview of alkaloids related to this genus are available, but a supportive systematic review account that highlights phytochemical aspects of other types of secondary metabolites is currently insufficient.

Objective: With the utilization of data and information from SCI-Finder, Google Scholar, the Web of Science, Scopus, Science Direct, PubMed, Chemical Abstracts, ACS journals, Springer, Taylor Francis, Bentham Science, and IOP Science, the reliable material sources of this systematic review paper were obtained from various literature published from the 1980s to present.

Conclusion: A vast amount of data showed that the non-alkaloidal secondary metabolites were obtained from genus Erythrina with various classes of chemical structures. Herein, approximately five hundred constituents were isolated, including flavonoids, terpenoids, saponins, phytosterols, phenols, arylbenzofurans, coumarins, alcohols, ceramides, monosugars, and fatty acid derivatives. In agreement with the previous phytochemical reports on the plants of the family Fabaceae, flavonoids make up a great percentage in the number of plants of genus Erythrina. Numerous biological activity investigations such as anti-bacteria, anti-cancer, anti-virus using isolated compounds from Erythrina species have suggested that secondary metabolites of Erythrina plants are now becoming the promising agents for drug developments.

Keywords: Genus Erythrina; arylbenzofurans.; isolation; non-alkaloidal; phytochemistry; phytosterols; secondary metabolites.