4. Terpenoid indole alkaloids
Alkaloids, flavonoids, saponins, terpenes, polyphenols, fatty acids, and
essential oils are of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Vinblastine,
vinorelbine, vincristine, and vindesine are active ingredients of
anticancer drugs, derived from alkaloid (Fig. 7A ).
Catharanthus belongs to the family
Apocynaceae, producing terpenoid
indole alkaloids (TIAs). It has eight species and had enormous
pharmaceutical potential as only Catharanthus Roseus produces
more than 130 different TIAs. Among them, vinblastine, vincristine,
vinorelbine, vindesine, anhydrovinblastine, vinblastine, and vincristine
are reported as effective anti-cancer agents
(Jacobs et al., 2004). Other compounds,
such as ajmalicine and serpentine, both monoterpene indole alkaloids are
used as antihypertensive and anti-neuro-inflammatory, as well as
vindolicine is used as an antidiabetic. Vinblastine and vincristine as
powerful anticancer drugs, commonly known as vinca alkaloids, function
as spindle inhibitors (Barrales-CureƱo et
al., 2019) (Fig. 7B ).