Homoisoflavonoids: Occurrence, Biosynthesis, and Biological Activity

Abstract

Homoisoflavonoids are a group of natural products mostly restricted in nature. A reduced number of plant families are associated with the isolation of homoisoflavonoids: Hyacinthaceae, Liliaceae, Asparagaceae, Fabaceae, Agavaceae and Polygonaceae. Although homoisoflavonoids are considered as a subclass of the almost well-described and studied flavonoid group, some steps in their biosynthetic pathways remain uncovered and still represent challenges to be solved. Regarding their biological activity, there are several reports describing antioxidant, anti-diabetic, anti-inflammatory, antifungal, and antibacterial activity, amongst others. This book chapter revises the importance of homoisoflavonoids as non-common scaffolds of natural products, discussing their chemical aspects, biosynthesis and biological activities by means of a comprehensive analysis of the literature.