<i>Alcyonium</i> Octocorals: Potential Source of Diverse Bioactive Terpenoids

• Main Authors: Ahmed Abdel-Lateff, Walied Mohamed Alarif, Najla Ali Alburae, Mardi Mohamed Algandaby
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2019-04-01
• Series: Molecules
• Subjects: Alcyoniidae; mevalonates; steroids; anti-inflammatory; antimicrobial; antifeedant
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/24/7/1370

<i>Alcyonium</i> corals are benthic animals, which live in different climatic areas, including temperate, Antarctic and sub-Antarctic waters. They were found to produce different chemical substances with molecular diversity and unique architectures. These metabolites embrace several terpenoidal classes with different functionalities. This wide array of structures supports the productivity of genus <i>Alcyonium</i>. Yet, majority of the reported compounds are still biologically unscreened and require substantial efforts to explore their importance. This review is an entryway to push forward the bio-investigation of this genus. It covers the era from the beginning of reporting metabolites from <i>Alcyonium</i> up to March 2019. Ninety-two metabolites are presented; forty-two sesquiterpenes, twenty-five diterpenes and twenty-five steroids have been reported from sixteen species.