The genus Cedrela P. Browne, which belongs to the Meliaceae family, has eighteen species. Trees of this genus are of economic interest due to wood quality, as well as being the focus of studies because of relevant biologic activities as in other Meliaceae species. These activities are mainly related to limonoids, a characteristic class of compounds in this family. Therefore, the aim of this review is to perform a survey of the citations in the literature on the Cedrela genus species. Articles were found on quantitative and qualitative phytochemical studies of the Cedrela species, revealing the chemical compounds identified, such as aliphatics acid and alcohol, flavonoids, tocopherol, monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes, triterpenes, cycloartanes, steroids, and limonoids. Although some activities were tested, the majority of studies focused on the insecticidal, antifeedant, or insect growth inhibitor activities of this genus. Nonetheless, the most promising activities were related to their antimalarial and antitripanocidal effects, although further investigations are still needed.

A phytochemical study of leaves and twigs of Psychotria nuda resulted in 19 compounds, including five indole alkaloids, N,N,N-trimethyltryptamine, lyaloside, strictosamide, strictosidine, and 5α-carboxystrictosidine; two flavonolignans, cinchonain Ia and cinchonain Ib; an iridoid, roseoside; a sugar, lawsofructose; a coumarin, scopoletin; a diterpene, phytol; three triterpenes, pomolic acid, spinosic acid, and rotungenic acid; and five steroids, sitosterol, stigmasterol, campesterol, β-sitosterol-3-O-β-d-glucoside, and β-stigmasterol-3-O-β-d-glucoside. Some compounds were evaluated for their in vitro activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis and their ability to inhibit NO production by macrophages stimulated by lipopolysaccharide (LPS). The compounds pomolic acid, spinosic acid, strictosidine, and 5α-carboxystrictosidine displayed antimycobacterial activity with minimum inhibitory concentrations ranging from 7.1 to 19.2 µg/mL. These compounds showed promising inhibitory activity against NO production (IC₅₀ 3.22 to 25.5 μg/mL). 5α-carboxystrictosidine did not show cytotoxicity against macrophages RAW264.7 up to a concentration of 100 µg/mL. With the exception of strictosamide, this is the first report of the occurrence of these substances in P. nuda.

Background: Psychotria species are known for their medicinal properties and psychoactive activities. Extracts of Psychotria suterella showed anti-tuberculosis (TB) activity; however, the substances related to this activity are unknown. Objectives: The objective was to study on the chemical constituents of the leaves of plant and evaluate the anti-TB and anti-inflammatory activity. Materials and Methods: Solvent extraction, partition, and column chromatography were used to separate the compounds. The structures of these compounds were determined by extensive one dimensional-and two dimensional-Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, infrared and mass spectrometry spectroscopic analyses. Some compounds were evaluated for their in vitro activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis and their ability to inhibit nitric oxide (NO) production by lipopolysaccharide-stimulated macrophages. Results: This study led to the isolation and characterization of a new iridoid, named epi-geniposidic acid (1), together with nine known compounds: geniposidic acid (2), 3-O-acethyloleanolic acid (3), pomolic acid (4), spinolic acid (5), maslinic acid (6), tormentic acid (7), methyl oleanolate (8), lyalosidic acid (9), and strictosidinic acid (10). Triterpene 3-O-acethyloleanolic acid (3) was found to display antimycobacterial activity against M. tuberculosis H37Rv strain and hypervirulent strain (minimum inhibitory concentration 6.7 ± 0.1 and 89.1 ± 1.3 μg/mL, respectively). Epi-geniposidic acid (1), geniposidic acid (2), and 3-O-acethyloleanolic acid (3) showed promising inhibitory activities against NO production (IC₅₀ range 4.12–5.12 μg/mL). The iridoid mixture showed no cytotoxicity against RAW 264.7 macrophages up to a concentration of 100 μg/mL. Conclusion: P. suterella presents relevant biological properties and should be considered for further in vivo studies using a pulmonary TB model.