Cembranoids are mainly found in plants of the Nicotiana and Pinus genera, as well as in soft coral and other marine organisms.
We summarise the chemical structures and biosynthetic pathways of tobacco cembranoids, and factors influencing their accumulation.
Tobacco cembranoids are known to display antimicrobial, anti-tumour and neuroprotective properties, which make them excellent templates for the future development of drugs to treat AIDS, cancer and neurodegenerative diseases.
A large number of bioactive compounds have been prepared from the biocatalysis and semisynthesis of tobacco cembranoids.