Research progress of Rubia cordifolia L.

Rubia cordi folia L. belongs to the genus Rubia from the family Rubiaceae, which has been well studied due to its high medicinal activity. It was reported that Rubia cordifolia L. has significant anti-proliferative effect which has attracted much attention recently. The review focused on the introduction of the chemical constituents and biological activities of Rubia cordifolia L. . Different classes of purified compounds isolated from Rubia cordi folia L. were summarized, such as anthraquinones, naphthoquinones, bicyclic hexapeptides, terpenes and carbohydrates. The biological activities of Rubia cordi folia L. in anti-proliferative, anti-tumor and antioxidant aspects were also introduced in this review. It provided the foundation of developing new compound and their biological activity from Rubia cordi folia L. .