Review article on Chemical constituents and Biological activity of Thymelaea hirsuta

Drug discovery and development has a long history and dates back to the early days of human civilization. In those ancient times, drugs were not just used as physical remedies but were also associated with religious and spiritual healing. Thymelaeaceae family have been the subject of numerous phytochemical studies. Initially, interest may have been due to the marked toxicity of these plants, but the widespread use of some species medicinally was certainly a reason for this interest. Thymelaea hirsuta is a perennial, evergreen and dioecious shrub, which is native to North Africa. Thymelaea hirsuta is a widespread invasive weed, is commonly known as “Methnane” and has been used traditionally as having antiseptic, antimelanogenesis, antioxidant and diabetic. There are numerous phytochemical studies lead to its richness in a variety of different classes of natural products, especially, coumarins, lignans, steroids and flavones. In addition, it used as a new fiber source for handmade paper. Therefore, in this review, we have mainly summarized the recent chemical constituent's isolated and biological activity identified from Thymelaea hirsuta. We hope that this review will provide further information for understanding the expected isolated compounds and its possible potent activity.