<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>Five diphenylbisbenzylisoquinoline (DBBI) alkaloids, tiliacorinine, tiliacorine, nor‐ tiliacorinine A, tiliarine and tiliamosine were isolated from the ethanol extract of the roots of <jats:italic>Tiliacora racemosa</jats:italic> Colebr. and identified by spectral techniques. Of these (+)‐tiliarine is the only one which exhibited a selective inhibitory effect against human melanoma cells (G 361) and had no activity on normal human fibroblasts (CCD 974 SK). The activity of (+)‐tiliarine against the human melanoma cell line was not much modified in the presence of calcium chloride. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.