Phyllobilins are a group of plant-derived bilin-type linear tetrapyrroles, which are
generated in the process of chlorophyll degradation. Despite the visibility this biochemical
pathway, the as well as the biochemical players involved have remained undetected
for a very long time. Only 30 years ago was the first phyllobilin isolated and characterized
by spectroscopic methods,which set the stage for the discovery of a variety of phyllobilins
with different structural modifications depending on the plant species. Phyllobilins
have primarily been regarded as products of a detoxification pathway employed by plants
to get rid of phototoxic chlorophyll. Therefore, they have been overlooked as natural
product class in terms of a biological role or pharmacological activity of their own.
[1] A change of this paradigm, however, is long overdue.
For the first time, we show important pharmacological activities of phyllobilins as
ingredients of medicinal plants, comprising potent antioxidative activities,[2] anti-inflammatory activities,[3] and activities on cancer cells.[4] This research sets the stage to systematically investigate the occurrence of phyllobilins
and their roles as important phytochemicals.
