The health value of honey is universally acknowledged from time immemorial. Manuka (Leptospermum scoparium) is a tree, indigenous to New Zealand and South East Australia, and from the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. The honey produced from its flowers is a uni-floral honey largely produced in New Zealand. It is becoming increasingly popular as a functional food, seen in the aisles of health stores as its displays superior nutritional and phytochemistry profile over other varieties of honey. Examining existing research databases revealed its biological properties ranging from anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, anti-viral, anti-biotic and wound healing to immune-stimulatory properties. Methylglyoxal is the unique compound in the honey responsible for some of its potent anti-microbial properties. Further, propolis another component of honey contains chiefly flavonoids (i.e. galangin, pinocembrin), phenolic acids and their esters that may also contribute to its immuno-stimulant properties. Recent findings of the biological roles have been discussed with emphasis on the underlying mechanisms. The hurdles associated in its development as a functional food and also nutraceutical with future scopes have also been mentioned. Relevant data published in MEDLINE, Cochrane library, and EMBASE in the past decade have been gathered to formulate this review.

This review explores the natural products of seagrass that are to be exploited for their bioactive potential. Beside from portraying the presence of a wide array of secondary compounds such as phenols, flavonoids, sterols and lipids from different seagrass species, the focus is on novel natural products projecting towards their biological applications. Though there are a significant number of reports on the abundance of secondary metabolites from seagrass and their bioactive derivatives, only a small number of reports explore their functional and defensive characteristics. Efforts have been made to collate the available information on seagrass natural products and clarify their function and metabolic pathway's. It is emphasized that metabolic profiling of seagrass should be extensively progressed to obtain a deeper knowledge about the specific roles of each natural product. The investigation of seagrass natural products for their bioactive potential would most likely result in the detection of surprising and unexpected novel chemical structures and clinical leads that may be useful to mankind.

Two farnesylhydroquinones were isolated from the fruiting bodies of Ganoderma pfeifferi, farnesylhydroquinone (1) and the new compound ganomycin K (2), (5S)-3-[(E)-7,8-dihydroxy-4,8-dimethylnon-3-enyl]-5-(2,5-dihydroxyphenyl)-furan-2(5H)-one. The structures of 1 and 2 were determined on the basis of mass spectrometric and NMR spectroscopic evidence. The antibacterial activity of the isolated compounds was neglectable.

Fungal aromatic compounds comprise an important and structurally diverse group of secondary metabolites. Several genome sequencing projects revealed many putative biosynthetic gene clusters of fungal aromatic compounds, but many of these genes seem to be silent under typical laboratory culture conditions. To gain access to this untapped reservoir of natural products, we utilized chemical epigenetic modifiers to induce the expression of dormant biosynthetic genes. As a result, the concomitant supplementation of the histone deacetylase inhibitors suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid (500 μM) and nicotinamide (50 μM) to the culture medium of a fungal pathogen, Stagonospora nodorum, resulted in the isolation of three aromatic compounds (1-3), including a novel natural butyrophenone, (+)-4'-methoxy-(2S)-methylbutyrophenone (1), and two known polyketides, alternariol (2) and (-)-(3R)-mellein methyl ether (3).

Four new diterpenoids, laxiflorins S-V (1-4), bearing four different types, and one known compound, laxiflorin O (5), were isolated from Isodon eriocalyx var. laxiflora. Compound 1 was the first example of ent-kauranoids bearing a unique C₂₄ carbon framework and compound 4 was the first example of 3,4-seco-ent-abietane diterpenoids from the Isodon genus. Their structures were determined by spectroscopic methods (UV, IR, MS, NMR).

Three new benzene derivatives, named daldins A-C (1-3), together with a known analogue, 2-hydroxymethyl-3-(1-hydroxypropyl) phenol (4) have been isolated from cultures of ascomycete Daldinia concentrica. The structures of 1-4 with absolute configuration were established by means of spectroscopic methods and X-ray diffraction. All compounds showed no significant inhibition on five human cancer cell lines with IC₅₀ values > 40 μmol.

Two new drimane sesquiterpenoids (1 and 2), as well as five known compounds (3-7), were isolated from the basidiomycete Trichaptum biforme. The structures of new compounds were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic methods, and the known compounds were identified by comparing their spectroscopic data with those reported in the literature. The cytotoxicities results against five human cancer cell lines of compounds 1 and 2 were negligible.

A quantitative ¹H NMR method (qHNMR) was used to measure the trigonelline content in the leaves of six species of the Annona genus. The methodology employed compared the intensities of the signals at δ 9.14 (H-2) and δ 0.00, the internal standard TSP-d₄. This measuring method was able to establish the concentration of trigonelline in the range from 0.67 to 10.04 mg·g^-1 depending on the investigated extract.