Abstract
A ilanthus altissima (Mill) Swingle. (syn. A. glandulosa Desf.), a deciduous tree of Chinese origin (the Tree of Heaven), has been introduced into North America and Europe where it has a long history of use in traditional medicine. A. altissima is noted as an antibacterial, anthelmintic, amoebicide and insecticide [1,2,3,4]. In recent years it has been used as an ornamental tree in urban areas throughout Europe and North America [4]. Phytochemical investigations of Ailanthus altissima have demonstrated compounds with biological activities. The most notable are quassinoids, of interest as potential new anticancer [5] and antimalarial agents [6]. Ailanthus also contains two categories of indole alkaloids: the non-iridoid β-carbolines and the canthin-6-ones. There are, however, conflicting reports on the anticancer activity of these latter alkaloids [7,8]; canthin-6-one has some antimicrobial activity [9] and the canthin-6-ones are strongly inhibitory to c-AMP phosphodiesterase [10].
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© 1989 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Roberts, M.F., Hay, C.A., Anderson, L.A., Phillipson, J.D. (1989). The Formation and Regulation of 1-Methoxycanthin-6-one Production in Ailanthus altissima Cell Suspension Cultures. In: Kurz, W.G.W. (eds) Primary and Secondary Metabolism of Plant Cell Cultures II. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-74551-5_20
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