Rapanone and embelin are simple alkyl benzoquinone derivatives, mainly distributed in the Primulaceae. They have an interesting scope of biological activities including cytotoxicity. As melanoma is one of the most common types of cancer, in many cases resistant to current treatment regimens, the aim
Cytotoxic effect of five known compounds, khellin, berberine, lupeol, scopolin, rapanone, obtained from Colombian plants, were determined against human tumor cell lines as an indicator of the potential anticancer activity of these compounds. Berberine and rapanone presented interesting cytotoxicity.