The Ethnomedicinal Uses of Magnoliaceae from the Southeastern United States as Leads in Drug Discovery

Abstract

In Asia and North America, members of the family Magnoliaceae have been and are presently used extensively in indigenous herbal medicine. Many taxa of the genus Magnolia produce lignans and sesquiterpene lactones, some with considerable in vitro bioactivities. This review focuses on selected natural products of the genus Magnolia from the southeastern United States with demonstrated biological and pharmacological properties. Ethnomedicinal data obtained from the Native Americans of the southeastern United States correlate well with the results of pharmacological investigations.

Keywords::

• Magnolia
• ethnobotany
• ethnomedicine
• sesquiterpene lactones
• lignans