ABSTRACT
Most of the medicinal bryophytes have been used as decoctions to cure disease. Some bryophytes are crushed and the resulting powder is mixed with oil to make a paste which is applied to burns, cuts, and external wounds. This chapter summarizes isolation and chemical structures of some biologically active substances found in bryophytes and their activity. Some bryophytes emit volatile terpenoids or simple aromatic compounds which are responsible for intense turpentine, mushroomy, sweet woody, sweet mossy, fungal, or carrot-like odor. Some genera of bryophytes produce intensely hot or bitter substances which show interesting biological activity. It is known that most bryophytes growing in North America contain substances with unpleasant taste, and some of them taste like immature green peas or pepper. Bryophytes display antibiotic activity. The lipophilic extracts of several liverworts show antibacterial and antifungal activity. Most crude extracts of bryophytes show inhibitory activity against germination, root elongation, and second coleoptile growth of rice in husk, wheat, lettuce, and radish.
