The first review describes examples of very promising compounds
discovered from plants acquired from Africa, Southeast Asia, the
Americas, and the Caribbean region with potential anticancer activity.
These include plant secondary metabolites of the diphyllin lignan,
penta[b]benzofuran, triterpenoid, and tropane alkaloid types.
The second review presents 40 more erythrinan alkaloids, which were
either new or were missed out in the last major reviews, bringing to a
total of 154 known erythrinan alkaloids known to date. The reported
pharmacological activities of the new and known alkaloids showed a
greater bias towards central nervous system and related activities.
Other prominent activities reported were antifeedant or insecticidal,
cytotoxicity/anti-tumor/anti-cancer/estrogenic, antiprotozoal,
antiinflammatory, antioxidant, antifungal and antiviral activities.