The general rôle of terpenes and their global significance

Abstract

Terpenes are universally present in small amounts in living organisms, where they play general rôles in membranes. On the other hand, they are also accumulated in many cases, and it is shown that the extraordinary variety they then display can be due to ecological factors playing an evolutionary rôle. Examples are given to show that such an ecological role can be either “obvious”, when these secondary metabolites are biologically inactive, or “hidden”, when they are toxic and potentially deterrent, or simply active as hormones. © 1990 IUPAC