ABSTRACT
Since the isolation of the first Amaryllidaceae alkaloid, lycorine (1), from Narcissus pseudonarcissus by Gerrad at the end of the last century, more than 200 species and varieties belonging to this plant family have been examined for alkaloids. Although this group of alkaloids has been of minor pharmaceutical importance until recently, there has been an increased interest due to the possible applications of galanthamine (69), an alkaloid isolated exclusively from species of this family. There are several reviews of Amaryllidaceae alkaloids (Ghosal et al., 1985b; Martin, 1987) and, likewise, this topic is regularly reviewed by the journal Natural Products Reports of The Royal Society of Chemistry (Lewis, 1998, and previous years). This chapter covers phytochemical studies on Narcissus alkaloids up to March 1999.
