Recent advances in the insect natural product chemistry: Structural diversity and their applications

Abstract

Phylum Arthropoda is the largest phylum of animal kingdom with around one million different species comprising more than 80% of all known animal species. These include insects, spiders, ticks, lice, centipedes, shrimp, and crabs with several less known species as well. Arthropod natural products represent structurally and functionally diverse chemical compounds ranging from fatty acids, polyketide, terpenoids to nucleosides. Most of the chemical compounds from arthropods are of polyacetate or fatty acid origin with highly nonpolar structures. Chemical analysis and spectroscopic identifications of new and fascinating structures have led to analyze the biological roles of identified compounds. More recently, small-molecule metabolites are facilitating for identification of novel types of chemical and ecological interactions. Besides metabolic chemistry and various biological applications, insect natural products are found to be active ingredients of various natural dyes (cochineal and lac dye). The semisynthetic derivative carmine later found its use as a biological staining and as a food coloring agent.