ÚLTIMOS AVANCES EN LA QUÍMICA Y ACTIVIDADES BACTERIOLÓGICAS EN LAS PLANTAS MEDICINALES= Medicinal plants, last advances on chemistry and bacteria activities on the medicinal herbs

1) From the active acetone fraction of Chenopodium murale, vanillic acid was isolated and identified, based on 1H and 13C NMR spectral analyses.  Free phenolic compds. inside the active acetone were qualified and quantified by high performance liq. chromatog. anal., which revealed the presence of 7 compds. with an abundance of vanillic and p-hydroxybenzoic acids.  The allelopathic potential of the acetone fraction and vanillic acid was evaluated through lab. bioassays against tomato plants.  Our results showed that the allelopathic potential induced by low concns. of the acetone fraction and vanillic acid stimulated the germination and growth of tomato and had stimulating effects on the activity of some antioxidant enzymes.  We obsd. an enhancement in the activity of catalase, peroxidase, superoxide dismutase, and polyphenol oxidase, as well as the content of sol. protein and phenolic glycoside.  Meanwhile, the levels of free phenolic compds., H2O2, and lipid peroxidn. decreased.  The highest stimulations were recorded at 50 p.p.m. of acetone fraction and 0.5 p.p.m. of vanillic acid.  In contrast, the highest concns. exerted neg. effects on all the measured parameters to record the max. value of inhibition at 400 p.p.m. of acetone fraction and 4 p.p.m. of vanillic acid.  These results proved the antioxidative effects of active acetone and vanillic acid at low concns. and their potent use as a stimulator for tomato germination and growth.

2) Antifungal activity of methanol and n-hexane leaf, stem, root and inflorescence exts. (1, 2, 3 and 4% w/v) of three Chenopodium species (family Chenopodiaceae) namely Chenopodium album L., Chenopodium murale L. and Chenopodium ambrosioides L. was investigated against Macrophomina phaseolina (Tassi) G. Goid., a soil-borne fungal plant pathogen that has a broad host range and wide geog. distribution.  All the exts. of the three Chenopodium species significantly suppressed the test fungal growth.  However, there was marked variation among the various ext. treatments.  Methanol inflorescence ext. of C. album exhibited highest antifungal activity resulting in up to 96% redn. in fungal biomass prodn.  By contrast, methanol leaf ext. of the same species exhibited least antifungal activity where 21-44% redn. in fungal biomass was recorded due to various employed ext. concns.  The various methanol exts. of C. murale and C. ambrosioides decreased fungal biomass by 62-90 and 50-84%, resp.  Similarly, various n-hexane exts. of C. album, C. murale and C. ambrosioides reduced fungal biomass by 60-94, 43-90 and 49-86%, resp.

3) The phytochem. investigation of Chenopodium murale L. family Chenopodiaceae, afforded seven flavonoids identified as, kaempferol (1), quercetin (2), kaempferol-3-O-alpha-L-rhamnoside-7-O-beta-D-xyloside(1®2)-O-alpha-L-rhamnoside (3), kaempferol-3-galactorhamnoside (4), kaempeferol 3,7-O-dirhamnoside(5), kaempferol-4'-methoxy-rutinoside(6), kaempferol-7-O-rhamnoside (7).  Their structures were established by using UV, 1HNMR, 13CNMR, EI-MS and FAB-MS.  The Et acetate, ether, chloroform, butanol and total ethanolic exts. and the isolated compds. of Chenopodium murale L. were tested for their antioxidant activity.  Among all the tested fractions and compds., compd. 6 exhibited the strongest antioxidant activity followed by compd. 5, giving 810 and 770 (mmol Trolox equiv./g dry wt.).  Moderate activities were detected for the other tested materials.

PARTE UTILIZADA= Used part : Hojas.

ACCIÓN FARMACOLÓGICA= Pharmacological action: Digestivo.

COMPOSICIÓN QUÍMICA= Chemical composition: Phytochemical evaluation of Chenopodium murale Linn. whole plant, revealed the presence of two flavonoids along with two steroidal glycosides, which were identified as 3,7-Dihydroxy-3-(4-hydroxy-3- methylbutyl)-5,6,4- trimethoxyflavone (1) 5,7-Dihydroxy-3-(2-hydroxy-3- methyl-3-butenyl)-3,6,4- trimethoxyflavone (2) Beta-Sitosterol 3-O-Bita-D- glucoside (3) Stigmasterol 3-O-Bita-D-glucoside (4) Although these were known compounds, but isolated for the first time from this plant specie. The characterization of all these compounds was achieved by various spectroscopic methods and the results were compared with the literature.

ZONA GEOGRÁFICA= Geografical zone: toda la región. 

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Distribución: Regiones Tarapaca, Antofagasta, Atacama, Coquimbo, Valparaiso, Metropolitana de Santiago, O’Higgins, Maule, Nuble, Biobio, Araucania, Los Rios, Los Lagos.

Usos medicinales: En infusion se usa como laxante suave.

1) TOURSARKISSIAN, Martín. Plantas medicinales de Argentina : sus nombres botánicos, vulgares, usos y distribución geográfica. Buenos Aires : Hemisferio Sur, 1980, p.49.

2) AHMAD, B., et al. Phytochemical evaluation of Chenopodium murale Linn. Asian Journal of Plant Sciences (Pakistan). 2003, vol.2, nº15-16, p.1072-1078.
 
3) ABDO GHAREIB, Hamada Ragab; ABDELHAMED, Mohamed Sayed; IBRAHIM, Ola Hammouda. Antioxidative effects of the acetone fraction and vanillic acid from Chenopodium murale on tomato plants.  Weed Biology and Management. 2010, vol.10, nº1, p.64-72.
 
4) JAVAID, Arshad; AMIN, Muhammad.  Antifungal activity of methanol and n-hexane extracts of three Chenopodium species against Macrophomina phaseolina. Natural Product Research, Part B: Bioactive Natural Products. 2009, vol.23, nº12, p.1120-1127.
 
5) AL-JABER, Nabila A. Chemistry Department, College of Science (Girls sections),  King Saud University,  Riyadh,  Saudi Arabia.  Editor(s): Singh, V. K.  Biological activity of Chenopodium murale L. and its flavonoidal contents. Recent Progress in Medicinal Plants. 2009, vol.23, p.71-79.