Yew - Taxus baccata L.

Abstract: Yews contain extremely potent diterpenoids in all their organs with the exception of the aril. Diterpenoids are compounds with a taxane skeleton which are, an the one hand, responsible for the yews toxicity. on the other hand, paclitaxel (toxol) isolated from the bark of the Pacific yew, Taxus brevifolia, and docetaxel, (toxotere) partially synthetically produced from 10-deacetylbaccatin III (from Taxus baccata-leaves), have developed into important therapeutic agents as antimitotic cytostatic drugs. Today, the yew is thus no longer only the tree of death of antiquity or the poisonous plant used for suicidal purposes, but also O medicinal plant which provides a source of important substances required for curing certain types of cancer.

Keyword(s): Taxus baccato

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