Abstract: Plants from the genus Lilium are used for both medicinal and culinary purposes as a rich source of nutrients. In recent years, they have aroused tremendous research interest in the field of natural product chemistry. However, to date, limited research efforts have been dedicated to the study of Lilium. Only a few Lilium species have been studied. Furthermore, most of the current studies concentrate on the validation of bioactivities, and thus more efforts are needed to study the separation of functional constituents and to develop functional foods and pharmaceuticals from Lilium. This paper summarizes recent progress in the study of nutrients and bioactive components including polysaccharides, saponins, alkaloids, phenols and steroidal glycosides in Lilium as well as its traditional medicinal and culinary applications and bioactive functions. Moreover, future research directions are also proposed.

Key words: Lilium, nutrient, bioactive substance, bioactivity