Celastraceae

The Celastraceae are a family of 97 genera and 1,350 species of herbs, vines, shrubs, and small trees, belonging to the order Celastrales. The species of this family stand out as important plant sources of triterpenes, both in terms of abundance and structural diversity. Triterpenoids found in Celastraceae species display mainly lupane, ursane, oleanane, and friedelane skeletons, exhibiting a wide range of biological activities such as antiviral, antimicrobial, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, and cytotoxic against various tumor cell lines.