The Styracaceae contains 11 genera and approximately 160 species consisting of small trees and shrubs, mostly native to tropical and subtropical regions. This family is well-known by the genus Styrax, which is notorious due to the production of resinous material, a pathological product, harvested by making incisions into the tree’s bark. The gum is used in perfumes, as antiseptic, expectorant, incense, and fumigating material. This paper reviews the phytochemical and biological studies carried out on 11 species of this family. A total of 92 papers were consulted, and 130 compounds were described, thus these data indicate that Styrax is by far the largest genus in the family, and the only which has been extensively investigated.
Styracaceae; Styrax; lignans; tritepenes; review
