Nocardamine is a cyclic trihydroxamate. It belongs to a group of microbial siderophores which form complexes with iron and aluminum ions. Nocardamine was described first as an antibiotic active against mycobacteria and proteus. It is produced by Nocardia species, several Streptomyces species, Chromobacterium and Pseudomonas. Nocardamine exhibited significant antioxidant effects. It is suggested that it should be applied in food and biological model systems. In vitro nocardamine showed antitumor activity – it has inhibitory effects to colony formation of tumor cells.