Abstract

Bryophytes, phylogenetically placed between algae and pteridophytes, are divided into three classes, mosses, liverworts, and hornworts. The traditional system of medicine throughout the world has been utilizing this group of plants to treat various ailments. One of the outstanding features of these spore-forming plants is their chemistry, especially that of the liverworts. Liverworts and other bryophytes have yielded a rich array of secondary metabolites. Many of these compounds are characterized by unprecedented structures, and some have not been found in any other plants, fungi, or marine organisms. Among the bryophytes, the chemical constituents of liverworts and their biological activity have been studied in the most detail. In this review, we demonstrate the chemistry of the liverworts, mosses, and hornworts, and also neuroprotective activity of dimeric herbertane- type sesquiterpenoids, mastigophorenes and secoaromadendrane-type sesquiterpenoids, marchantin-type cyclic bisbibenzyls with muscle-relaxant activity, or ent-longipinane-type sesquiterpenoids with acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activity, among others.

Keywords: Bryophytes, liverworts, sesquiterpenoids, bisbibenzyls, neuroprotective activity, acetylcholinesterase inhibitors.