REVIEW Chemical Constituents of Plants from the Genus Rhaponticum by Xi-Ping Zhang a ), Jing Zhang b ), Mei Dong a ), Man-Li Zhang a ), Chang-Hong Huo a ), Qing-Wen Shi* a ), and Yu-Cheng Gu a ) c ) a ) School of Pharmaceutical Science & College of Basic Medical Sciences, Hebei Medical University, 361 Zhongshan East Road, Shijiazhuang 050017, P.R. China (phone: þ 86-311-86265634; e-mail: shiqingwen@hebmu.edu.cn) b ) The Third Affiliated Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang 050000, P. R. China c ) Syngenta Jealott)s Hill International Research Centre, Bracknell, Berkshire RG42 6EY, UK Contents 1. Introduction 2. Chemical Constituents 2.1. Phytoecdysteroids 2.2. Triterpenes and Diterpenoids 2.3. Sesquiterpene Lactones 2.4. Flavonoids 2.5. Thiophenes 2.6. Phenolic Acids 2.7. Others 3. Biological Activities 3.1. Effects of Crude Extracts 3.1.1. On Learning and Memory 3.1.2. On the Hemorheological Indices 3.1.3. On RNA and Protein 3.1.4. On CCl 4 -Induced Liver Damage 3.1.5. Immunomodulatory Activity 3.2. Phytoecdysteroids 3.2.1. As Stimulants of Erythropoiesis 3.2.2. Wound-Healing Effect 3.3. Antimicrobial and Antifungal Activity 3.4. Antifeedant Properties 3.5. Others 4. Conclusions 1. Introduction. – The genus Rhaponticum, which belongs to the tubular flower subfamily of Compositae, is distributed mainly in the tropical and subtropical regions, especially in Europe, Asia, and Africa. It comprises of ca. 24 species all over the world, and there are almost 10 species distributed in China. Among those, the species R. uniflorum (L.) DC and R. carthamoides (Willd.) Iljin. attracted more attention. The CHEMISTRY & BIODIVERSITY – Vol. 7 (2010) 594 # 2010 Verlag Helvetica Chimica Acta AG, Zürich