Amaranthaceae family is one of the largest and most diverse in the plant kingdom. While some of the plants of this family have important nutritional value, others are considered toxic and/or hazardous weeds and many efforts have been made in controlling them. But both categories were used by humans for traditional medicinal purposes, and some of them were extensively studied by modern science. In this review article, we will present some ethnomedicinal uses of the plants of this family, along with comprehensive literature survey of medicinal, biological and other activities. Information will be presented in tables for the convenience of readers, and many structures of natural products are presented. The extensive discussion section will focus mainly (but not only) on studies of active compounds production. This review article is about plants of this family in general and in particular about Amaranthaceae plants of our region. Conclusions and future research recommendations are also presented.
Key words: Amaranthaceae, amaranthine, betanin, saponins, flavonoids, nerolidol derivatives, medicinal activities.
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