Phytochemicals and Their Biological Activities of Plants in Tagetes L.

Tagetes L., the genus in the family Asteraceae, consists of about 30 species spread in South and Middle America as well as Mexico. More than one hundred secondary metabolites have been obtained in phytochemical investigation on the species, some of which have potent biological activities. The advances in phytochemical studies and biological activities of the plants in Tagetes L. from 1925 to 2011 are summarized in this paper.