Abstract:
Bryophytes, "amphibians of plant kingdom", are primitive group of non vascular land
plants which inhabit damp, shaded and humid localities. Exceptionally, a few are floating in water
even though they are with gametophytic and sporophytic phases. The plant group is intermediate
between algae and pteridophytes that broadly classified into 3 lineages viz. Marchantiophyta
(Liverworts), Bryophyta (Mosses) and Anthocerophyta (Hornworts). About 18500 species are
identified till date which distributed all over the world. These are poorly studied plant groups in
turn using in many of the traditional medicines due to the presence of secondary metabolites
having pharmaceutical activities. To date, by conducting an extensive screening for anticancer
activity in approximately 35,000 plants species, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) has built a
database of 3,000 plant species with reproducible anticancer activity. Most commonly, the
liverwort and moss metabolites including phenolic compounds, terpenoids, bibenzyls and (bis)
bibenzyls show cytotoxic activity against many of the cancer cell lines. Various secondary
metabolites extracted from bryophytes such as marchantin A, marchantin C, bisbibenzyls,
riccardin, 2 alpha 5 beta- dihidroxyboranane-2-cinnamate, costunolide, tulipinolide, jungermannenone, Radulapin, (–)-ent-Arbusculin B, (–)-entcostunolide, eudesmanolides, germacranolides
and guaianolides shows tumour suppressing activity towards various cancer cell lines.
