Iridoid compounds have wild variety, including ordinary, split ring, dipolymer, and other types, which are found in various genus of the Rubiaceae widely. It has the functions of antitumor, antidepression, anti-inflammation and cell protection, etc. This paper reviews the research progress of iridoid compounds in plants from Rubiaceae, which provides theoretical supports for the application breakthrough of chemical constituents.

Objective To study the chemical constituents from Achyrocline satureioides. Methods Chemical constituents from A. satureioides were separated and purified by a variety of chromatographic techniques, and their structures were identified by various spectroscopic methods. Results Twenty-one compounds were isolated from ethyl acetate fraction of the plant, which were α-amyrin (1), ergosta-4,6,8,22-tetraene-3-one (2), (R)-24-ethylcholest-4-en-3,6-dione (3), clovandiol (4), caryolane-1,9β-diol (5), lepidissipyrone (6), 5,7-dihydroxy-3,6-dimethoxyflavone (7), quercetin-7-O-β-D-glucoside (8), pinocembrin (9), (2R,3R)-taxifolin (10), quercetin-4’-O-β-D-glucoside (11), helichrysetin (12), 3-[5,7-dihydroxy-2,2-dimethyl-8-(2-(S)-methyl-butanoyl)-2H-chromen-6- yl-methyl]-6-ethyl-4-hydroxy-5-methyl-pyran-2-one (13), quercetin (14), protocatechuic acid (15), (+)-(3R)-3-hydroxyl-4,4- dimethyl-4-butyrolactone (16), (4S,5R)-5-(4’-methyl-3’-pentenyl)-4-hydroxy-5-methyldihydrofuran-2-one (17), genkwanin (18), quercetin-3-methyl ether (19), galangin (20), and neosakuranin (21). Conclusion Compounds 1, 4, 5, 16, 17, and 21 are obtained from the genus for the first time, and compounds 1-12, 16-18, and 21 are obtained from the plant for the first time.