A systematic review on triterpenoids from genus Schisandra: Botany, traditional use, pharmacology and modern application

The genus Schisandra belongs to the family Schisandraceae and grows mainly in south-central and southwestern China. Most of the plants in this genus are used for medicine by their fruits, usually for the treatment of inflammatory diseases. In traditional medicine, Schisandra is also used to stop bleeding, relieve pain, and clear heat. Based on this, many domestic and foreign scholars have conducted systematic studies on its chemical composition, and experimental data show that triterpenoid components are the important material basis for the pharmacological effects of this genus. This paper summarizes the relevant literature on triterpenes of the genus Schisandra from 1983-2023. All information and research about this paper was obtained from libraries and digital databases (SciFinder, Medline PubMed, Google Scholar, and CNKI, etc.). At present, there are 335 different kinds of triterpenes isolated from the genus Schisandra, including lanostanes, cycloartanes, nortriterpenoids and pentacyclic triterpenoids, which are mostly found in fruits and vine stems. They have been found to possess various activities such as antitumor, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, neuroprotective, nephroprotective and hepatoprotective. This review systematically summarizes the literature on triterpenoid composition, traditional applications, pharmacology, and exploitation of the genus Schisandra. We hope this paper will provide a valuable reference for further research and development of the resources of this genus.