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The Genus Walsura: A Rich Resource of Bioactive Limonoids, Triterpenoids, and Other Types of Compounds

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Progress in the Chemistry of Organic Natural Products 118

Part of the book series: Progress in the Chemistry of Organic Natural Products ((POGRCHEM,volume 118))

Abstract

Medicinal plants of the genus Walsura (family Meliaceae) are native to tropical zones of a number of Asian countries, and have been used in systems of folk medicine. Several original research articles on Walsura species are available, but an overview highlighting the phytochemical and biological aspects of the compounds isolated to date is so far absent. Since the 1970s, phytochemical investigations on the genus Walsura have been undertaken, and more than 220 compounds from ten species have been identified. Natural products from Walsura species that have received the most attention are limonoids (114 compounds) and triterpenoids (72 compounds). Walsura limonoids have been characterized structurally as having diverse skeletons and more than 100 such compounds are new to the literature, while dammaranes, tirucallanes, and apotirucallanes are the main triterpenoid types from this genus. Other Walsura constituents comprise sesquiterpenoids, flavonoids, sterols, lignans, xanthones, and anthraquinones. Walsura species constituents have also been studied in natural product drug discovery screening programs. Many in vitro biological and some in vivo pharmacological investigations have been carried out on Walsura species isolated compounds. Walsura components display properties such as cancer cell cytotoxicity, antimicrobial, antidiabetes, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antifeedant, antifertility, ichthyotoxic, and neuroprotection activities.

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Acknowledgments

The writing of this chapter was supported by Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (2021).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Applied Biochemistry, Institute of Chemistry, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, 18-Hoang Quoc Viet, Caugiay, Hanoi, Vietnam

    Ninh The Son

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  1. Ninh The Son
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. College of Pharmacy, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA

    A. Douglas Kinghorn

  2. Institute of Organic Chemistry, Johannes Kepler University, Linz, Austria

    Heinz Falk

  3. School of Pharmacy, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK

    Simon Gibbons

  4. Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Tokushima Bunri University, Tokushima, Japan

    Yoshinori Asakawa

  5. School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, South-Central University for Nationalities, Wuhan, China

    Ji-Kai Liu

  6. Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Vienna, Vienna, Wien, Austria

    Verena M. Dirsch

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Son, N.T. (2022). The Genus Walsura: A Rich Resource of Bioactive Limonoids, Triterpenoids, and Other Types of Compounds. In: Kinghorn, A.D., Falk, H., Gibbons, S., Asakawa, Y., Liu, JK., Dirsch, V.M. (eds) Progress in the Chemistry of Organic Natural Products 118. Progress in the Chemistry of Organic Natural Products, vol 118. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-92030-2_4

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