Terpenoids of Aristolochia and their biological activities

Covering: the literature up to December 2003

Aristolochia is an important genus widely used in traditional medicine. During the past two decades, this genus has attracted much interest and has been the subject of numerous chemical and pharmacological studies. It is a rich source of aristolochic acids, which are unique to this genus, and of terpenoids. The nature of these terpenoids are reviewed in this article together with some bioactivity data in an effort to highlight the rapid development in the field of phytochemistry of the Aristolochia species.