A Comprehensive Review of the Aizoaceae Family: Phytochemical and Biological Studies

Abstract

The Aizoaceae “ice plant” family, is one of the neglected plant family despite its promising phytoconstituents. It includes approximately 135 genera and 2499 succulent species distributed throughout the tropics and subtropics worldwide. Many of the species in this family have a long history in traditional medicine, and many phytochemical and biological studies have attempted to confirm the folk uses of these plants. This review gathers all the available information concerning this family offering an in-depth search for all published papers, websites, and proceedings for the identified compounds besides their biological activities. More than one hundred eighty compounds belonging to different classes have been identified and found responsible for a wide range of therapeutic activity including, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-hepatotoxic, anticancer and antimicrobial activities revealing Aizoaceae species as very promising candidates for all phytochemical and biological studies.