Chemical composition, biological activities and traditional uses of plants from the segregated genus Caesalpinia sensu lato

The species Caesalpinia s.l. (Leguminosae: Caesalpinioideae) are widely distributed over all continents and content a large amount of unusual secondary metabolites with vast biological potential. Traditionally, this genus includes more than 150 species, but currently, in an attempt to group the species by similar phylogenetic characteristics, Caesalpinia s.l. was categorized into the following nine different genera: Caesalpinia s.s., Coulteria, Erythrostemon, Guilandina, Libidibia, Mezoneuron, Poincianella, Pomaria and Tara. Recently, some taxonomic groups were relocated to genera from the informal Caesalpinia Group, such as Cenostigma, Moullava, Biancaea and Hultholia. However, pharmacological and chemical studies continue to use the original genera in their research. Eight hundred thirty-one compounds, including 479 new occurrences in natural products, have been identified and described in the literature in the last decade. Despite the large number of studies, the main species remain scientifically unexplored. Of the more than 140 species belonging to the segregated genera, only 30 species were analysed in chemical studies, all of which are described in this work. A review of the taxonomy of the genus Caesalpinia s.l. revealed that the reclassification, which led to the union of species based on morphological characteristics related to chemical composition, divided species with unusual chemical constituents into distinct genera. In addition, this revision reflects on the taxonomic reclassification of the genus to update the scenario of structures already isolated in the genera and the biological and pharmacological properties of constituents obtained from Caesalpinia and the other segregated genera, considering an updated nomenclature and a previous reclassification covering the available data in the literature published from 2010 to 2022.

Automated summary

The genus Caesalpinia s.l. includes widely distributed plants with abundant secondary metabolites of biological interest. Taxonomy of this genus has recently been revised, resulting in the classification of species into different genera. Despite numerous studies, many species within these segregated genera remain unexplored. The taxonomic reclassification reflects the morphological characteristics and chemical composition of the species.