Covering: July 2004 to June 2006. Previous review: Nat. Prod. Rep., 2005, 22, 111–126

A great number of natural products, especially alkaloids, which exhibit a range of biological activities including acetylcholinesterase inhibition and antineoplastic, cardiovascular and immunostimulatory activities, have been isolated from the plants of the Amaryllidaceae family. This review summarizes isolation, biological activity, and synthetic studies of these alkaloids. The primary biosynthetic pathways of each type of alkaloids are also proposed.