By the end of the twentieth century, the interest in natural compounds as probable sources of drugs has declined and was replaced by other strategies such as molecular target-based drug discovery. However, in the recent times, natural compounds regained their position as extremely important source drug leads. Indole-containing compounds are under clinical use which includes vinblastine and vincristine (anticancer), atevirdine (anti-HIV), yohimbine (erectile dysfunction), reserpine (antihypertension), ajmalicine (vascular disorders), ajmaline (anti-arrhythmic), vincamine (vasodilator), etc. Monoterpene Indole Alkaloids (MIAs) deserve the curiosity and attention of researchers due to their chemical diversity and biological activities. These compounds were considered as an impending source of drug-lead. In this review 444 compounds, were identified from six genera belonging to the family Apocynaceae, will be discussed. These genera (Alstonia, Rauvolfia, Kopsia, Ervatamia, and Tabernaemontana, and Rhazya) consist of 400 members and represent 20% of Apocynaceae species. Only 30 (7.5%) species were investigated, whereas the rest are promising to be investigated. Eleven bioactivities, including antibacterial, antifungal, anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressant activities, were reported. Whereas cytotoxic effect represents 47% of the reported activities. Convincingly, the genera selected in this review are a wealthy source for future anticancer drug lead.

Nowadays, the logarithmic production of existing well-known food materials is unable to keep up with the demand caused by the exponential growth of the human population in terms of the equality of access to food materials. Famous local food materials with treasury properties such as mangrove fruits are an excellent source to be listed as emerging food candidates with ethnomedicinal properties. Thus, this study reviews the nutrition content of several edible mangrove fruits and the innovation to improve the fruit into a highly economic food product. Within the mangrove fruit, the levels of primary metabolites such as carbohydrates, protein, and fat are acceptable for daily intake. The mangrove fruits, seeds, and endophytic fungi are rich in phenolic compounds, limonoids, and their derivatives as the compounds present a multitude of bioactivities such as antimicrobial, anticancer, and antioxidant. In the intermediary process, the flour of mangrove fruit stands as a supplementation for the existing flour with antidiabetic or antioxidant properties. The mangrove fruit is successfully transformed into many processed food products. However, limited fruits from species such as Bruguiera gymnorrhiza, Rhizophora mucronata, Sonneratia caseolaris, and Avicennia marina are commonly upgraded into traditional food, though many more species demonstrate ethnomedicinal properties. In the Middle East, A. marina is the dominant species, and the study of the phytochemicals and fruit development is limited. Therefore, studies on the development of mangrove fruits to functional for other mangrove species are demanding. The locally accepted mangrove fruit is coveted as an alternate food material to support the sustainable development goal of eliminating world hunger in sustainable ways.

Chromatographic fractionation of the CH₂Cl₂/MeOH extract of the Red Sea red alga Laurencia obtusa gave two new hexahydrofuro[3,2-b]furan-based C₁₅-acetogenins, namely, isolaurenidificin (1) and bromlaurenidificin (2). The chemical structures were elucidated based on extensive analyses of their spectral data. Compounds 1 and 2 showed no toxicity (LC₅₀ > 12 mM) using Artemia salina as test organism. Both compounds showed weak cytotoxicity against A549, HepG-2, HCT116, MCF-7, and PC-3 cells, however, they exhibited a relatively potent cytotoxic activity against peripheral blood neutrophils. This can be attributed partly to induction of apoptosis.

Chromatographic investigation of the aerial parts of the Rhazya stricta (Apocynaceae) resulted in the isolation of two new monoterpene indole alkaloids, 6-nor-antirhine-N₁-methyl (1) and razyamide (2), along with six known compounds, eburenine (3), epi-rhazyaminine (4), rhazizine (5), 20-epi-sitsirikine (6), antirhine (7), and 16-epi-stemmadenine-N-oxide (8). The chemical structures were established by various spectroscopic experiments. Compounds 1–8 exhibited cytotoxic effects against three cancer cells with IC₅₀ values ranging between 5.1 ± 0.10 and 93.2 ± 9.73 µM against MCF-7; 5.1 ± 0.28 and 290.2 ± 7.50 µM against HepG2, and 3.1 ± 0.17 and 55.7 ± 4.29 µM against HeLa cells. Compound 2 showed the most potent cytotoxic effect against all cancer cell lines (MCF-7, HepG2 and HeLa with IC₅₀ values = 5.1 ± 0.10, 5.1 ± 0.28, and 3.1 ± 0.17 µM, respectively). Furthermore, compound 2 revealed a significant increase in the apoptotic cell population of MCF-7, HepG2, and HeLa cells, with 31.4 ± 0.2%, 29.2 ± 0.5%, and 34.9 ± 0.6%, respectively. Compound 2 decreased the percentage of the phagocytic pathway on HepG2 cells by 15.0 ± 0.1%. These findings can explain the antiproliferative effect of compound 2.

From the soft coral Xenia umbellata, seven isoprenoid derivatives were isolated, including a new xenicane diterpene, xeniolide O (5) and a new gorgostane derivative gorgst-3β,5α,6β,11α,20(S)-pentol-3-monoacetate (7), along with three known sesquiterpenes (1–3), a known diterpene (4), and a known steroid (6). The extensive analyses of the NMR, IR, and MS spectral data led to determination of their chemical structures. Compounds 1–7 displayed a cytotoxic effect against breast adenocarcinoma (MCF-7), hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2), and cervix adenocarcinoma (HeLa), with IC₅₀ values ranging between 1.5 ± 0.1–23.2 ± 1.5; 1.8 ± 0.1–30.6 ± 1.1 and 0.9 ± 0.05–12.8 ± 0.5 μg/mL, respectively. Compound 3 showed potent cytotoxic effects against MCF-7, HepG2, and HeLa with IC₅₀ values = 2.4 ± 0.20, 3.1 ± 0.10 and 0.9 ± 0.05 μg/mL, respectively. Compounds 2, 5, and 7 displayed cytotoxic effect against Hela cells with IC₅₀ values = 12.8 ± 0.50, 6.7 ± 1.00 and 11.5 ± 2.20 μg/mL, respectively. Two DNA binding dyes, acridine orange (AO) and ethidium bromide (EtBr) were used for the detection of viable, apoptotic, and necrotic cells. The early apoptotic cell death was observed in all types of treated cells. The late apoptotic cells were highly present in HepG2 cells. Compounds 5 and 7 induced a high percentage of necrosis towards HepG2 and HeLa cells. The late apoptosis was recorded as a high rate after treatment with 7 on all cancer cells.

Purification of the organic extract of Laurencia obtusa Lamouroux by column chromatography and preparative thin layer chromatography provided four new compounds: a eudesmane-type sesquiterpenoid [eudesma-4(15),11-diene-5,7-diol (1)], a cuparane-type sesquiterpenoid [10-hydroxycuparaldehyde (2)], and two nor-cuparanes [3-hydroxy-15-nor-cuparan-10β-ol (3) and 2-bromo-3-hydroxy-15-nor-cuparan-10β-ol (4)]. Structural identification was made possible by comparison of spectral data with those reported in the literature. Compounds 3 and 4 are significant as nor-cuparanes are rarely isolated from marine environment. 1 showed moderate anticandidal activity, whereas 2 exhibited reasonable antibacterial activity against multidrug-resistant bacteria (especially Gram-positive). All the compounds are nontoxic to Artemia salina.