Through dereplication strategies using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and ultra fast liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UFLC-MS/MS), the ethanol extract from Psycotria nemorosa leaves (Rubiaceae) showed to be composed of: cinnamic acid, dihydroactinidiolide, 4-hydroxy-β-ionone, phytol, isophytol, 4,8,12,16-tetramethylheptadecan-4-olide, lupeol, a mixture of α/β-amyrin, the keto and acetylated derivatives, besides stigmast-4-en-3-one, campesterol, stigmasterol and γ-sitosterol by GC-MS. Likewise, by UFLC-MS/MS, the main compounds identified were: butin, resveratrol, rutin, kaempferol 7-O-β-D-glucopyranoside, deacetylasperuloside, epiloganin, hordenine, strictosidine, N-methyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-β-carboline and N-formyl-tryptamine. The antinociceptive activity of the crude extract ant its fractions was reported.

Psychotria genus (Rubiaceae) is featured into the angiosperm, being the most speciose genus comprising approximately 1600 species. The available references demonstrate that Psychotria has several uses on traditional medicine including spiritual and cultural purposes, and presents great potential on pharmacological properties, especially the one related to neurodegenerative diseases. Despite its wide biological properties, this genus has shown complex phylogenetic analysis due to lack of chemotaxonomic information. In recent years, the interest in these plants has increased considerably and many active compounds have been isolated. Phytochemical investigations described in the literature confirmed the indole alkaloids as the major compounds and besides that, another particular chemical constituent are cyclic peptides, known as cyclotides. This present review will cover the relevant literature from 1962 until 2015, and outlines the current data on taxonomy, chemotaxonomy, traditional uses, pharmacological properties, chemical composition and ecological approach from Psychotria genus.