Steroidal alkaloids are derived from the steroid skeleton with one or two nitrogen atoms. They are widely distributed in tropical and subtropical regions and possess a range of biological activities. The structures of steroidal alkaloids are comparable to those of anabolic steroids, steroidal hormones, and corticosteroids, making them a valuable source for drug discovery. Taxonomically, steroidal alkaloids are limited in distribution to certain plant families, predominantly the Apocynaceae, Buxaceae, Solanaceae, and Liliaceae. This review highlights the steroidal alkaloids from the Apocynaceae family and their biological activities. The articles published from 1919 to 2021 were included in this review. A total of 163 steroidal alkaloids and 12 biological activities were reported from plant species belonging to the Apocynaceae family in this period. Of the 410 genera in the Apocynaceae, only 10 contain steroidal alkaloids. Although some alkaloids from the Apocynaceae family were also reported in the Buxaceae family, especially tetracyclic triterpenes with a pregnane side chain, most steroidal alkaloids can only be found in several genera of the Apocynaceae family.

In this study, phytochemical screening, antioxidant activity as well as phenolic content in the leaves,twigs and barks of Brucea javanica (L.) were determined using standard phytochemical screeningmethod, DPPH radical scavenging assay and Folin-Ciocalteu reagent method, respectively. Methanolicextracts of these different plant parts were prepared by maceration method. Phytochemical screeningrevealed the presence of flavonoids, terpenoids and tannins in all plant parts. This test also revealed thepresence of alkaloids and saponins in all plant parts except they were absent in the twigs and barks parts,respectively. On the other hand, steroids was absent in all plant parts. DPPH method was used toevaluate the antioxidant properties of the plant parts by measuring the absorbance at 517 nm. Theantioxidant activity was then compared with standard ascorbic acid. Among all parts, methanolic extractof leaves of Brucea javanica (L.) exhibited the highest antioxidant activity at the concentration of 100ppm with 86.19 ± 0.20% inhibition which was comparable with standard ascorbic acid with 97.62 ±0.13% inhibition at the same concentration. The IC50 value of the methanolic extract of leaves was 54.52± 0.16 ppm while the other parts were more than 100 ppm. All plant parts showed IC50 value higher thanthe standard ascorbic acid which recorded IC50 of 9.04 ± 0.09 ppm. The methanolic extract of the leavesalso exhibited the highest total phenolic content which was 105.58 ± 0.21 mg GAE/g extract compared tothe other parts. This result correlated well with the higher antioxidant activity exhibited by themethanolic extract of the leaves. Thus, the leaves part of methanolic extract of Brucea javanica (L.)exhibited the highest antioxidant activity compared to the other plant parts. Keywords: Brucea javanica (L.), simaroubaceae, phytochemical screening, antioxidant activity, phenolic content