Title:Cucurbitacins: Nature’s Wonder Molecules
Volume: 8
Issue: 3
Author(s): Sonal H. Kanani*Devang J. Pandya
Affiliation:
- Faculty of Pharmacy, Marwadi University, Rajkot, India
- RK University, Rajkot, Gujarat, India
Keywords:
Luffa echinata, Trichosanthes cucumerina, Cucurbitacin, Cucurbitaceae, Triterpenoids, antidiabetic.
Abstract: Over the past decades, several natural constituents belonging to different classes have
been isolated from plants for medicinal purposes. Cucurbitacins is one such type of natural compound.
Cucurbitacin is a class of biochemical compounds that some plants, notably members of the
pumpkin and gourd family, Cucurbitaceae produce and function as a defense against herbivores.
They and their derivatives have been found in many plant families (including Brassicaceae, Cucurbitaceae,
Scrophulariaceae, Begoniaceae, Elaeocarpaceae, Datiscaceae, Desfontainiaceae, Polemoniaceae,
Primulaceae, Rubiaceae, Sterculiaceae, Rosaceae, and Thymelaeaceae), in some mushrooms
(including Russula and Hebeloma) and even in some marine mollusks. They have been isolated
from various plant species, chiefly belonging to the Cucurbitaceae family, which comprises
around 130 genera and 800 species. Cucurbitacins are a group of tetracyclic triterpenoid substances
that are highly oxygenated and contain a cucurbitane skeleton characterized by 9β-methyl−19-norlanosta-
5-ene. Cucurbitacins can be categorized into twelve main groups according to variations in
their side-chains. Cucurbitacins A, B, C, D, E, F, I, J, K, L, O, P, Q, R, S, and their glycosides are
mainly found in Cucurbitaceae family members. These plants have been used as folk medicines in
some countries because of their broad spectrum of crucial pharmacological activities such as anti-
inflammatory, anti-cancer, anti-diabetic, and anti-atherosclerotic effects. The present review explores
the possibility of a correlation between the chemistry of various Cucurbitacins and the uses
of the plants which contain them, thereby opening avenues for further phytochemical, ethnomedicinal,
and modern pharmacological research on these important molecules.
