Abstract Background & Objectives:The term natural products refers to secondary metabolites, small molecules (mol wt <2000 amu) produced by an organism such as medicinal plants. These compounds are known as a powerful source to design novel medicines. In this review article one group of the most famous and applicable compounds in the genus Diospyros named 1, 4-naphthoquinones is discussed. The aim of this review is to disclose advances in biological, pharmacological researches and phytochemistry of 1, 4- naphthoquinones isolated from this genus, as well as the suggested mechanisms regarding their activities. Material and Methods: This research was done based on the searching the keywords including Diospyros 1, 4-naphthoquinone antibacterial anticancer Ebnaceae, mechanism through the well-known databases from beginning to 2011. Results:During the past 60 years many compounds have been isolated from Diospyros L. Twelve considerable bioactive structures are reported in this review. plumbagin and diospyrin are two main basic 1, 4-naphthoquinone skeletons, which have been studied extensively in clinical and pharmacological researches. At present the potential for development of leads from 1, 4-naphthoquinones obtained from Diospyros L. is growing dramatically, mainly in the area of anticancer and antibacterial investigations. The data prepared and described here is intended to be served as a reference tool to the natural products and chemistry specialists in order to expand the rational drug design
