Chemical Constituents and Biological Activities of Plants from the genus Ehretia Linn.

The plants of the genus Ehretia Linn. composed of about 50 species mainly distributed in tropical Asia and Africa.They have been used as folk medicines or traditional tea to treat various ailments in China for a long time. This contribution reviews the chemical constituents isolated from the plants of the genus Ehretia Linn. and related biological activities of these species in the past few decades. The compounds in the genus mainly belong to the classes of phenolic acids, flavonoids, benzoquinones, cyanogenetic glycosides, and fatty acids. The main biological activities include antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antisnake venom, and anti-allergic activities.