PARTE UTILIZADA=Used part: Corteza. 

ACCIÓN FARMACOLÓGICA= Pharmacological action: Anti-cefalálgico. 

ZONA GEOGRÁFICA= Geografical zone: Paraguay y N.E. de Argentina. 

DIVERSIDAD GENÉTICA Y MEJORAMIENTO DE PLANTAS MEDICINALES= Medicinal plants and improvement of medicinal herbs:

Tree species belonging to genus Astronium Jacq. (Anacardiaceae R. Br.) can be sometimes difficult to identify on the sole basis of the morphological traits of the leaves. Individuals collected from Paraguay and Argentina were a priori identified in the field as Astronium urundeuva (Allemão) Engl., Astronium balansae Engl. and Astronium fraxinifolium Spreng., although no flowers nor fruits were found at the time of sampling. These were analysed with six microsatellites and two chloroplast markers. Using a bayesian approach on the microsatellite data, each individual was assigned to one of three distinct clusters that subsequently appeared to correspond to the previously described species. Astronium fraxinifolium was identified as the most differentiated species with both microsatellites and chloroplast data, although its leaf morphology is close to the one of Astronium urundeuva. The lower differentiation levels reported among Astronium urundeuva and Astronium balansae, despite their different leaf morphologies, was attributed to a more recent divergence of the species or to a case of introgressive hybridization. This study underlines the advantages of using a Bayesian assignement procedure whenever molecular studies based on one particular species is to be undertaken. It furthermore confirms the species status of the three analysed taxa, and represents a first step toward a more comprehensive analysis of the three species. © Conservatoire et Jardin Botaniques de Genève 2008. 

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

Thirty-nine native plant species were collected from the provinces of Chaco and Formosa, in northern Argentina, and were screened for antimicrobial activity.  The plants were dried and extracted thoroughly with methanol.  The dry extracts, dissolved in dimethylsulfoxide, were tested for inhibition of microbial growth via microplate assay with an oxidation-reduction dye.  The test organisms were: Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhimurium, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus faecium.  Inhibition of respiratory activities in some of these microbial species was produced by the extracts of Astronium balansae, Geoffroea decorticans, Peltophorum dubium, Geoffroea spinosa, Lantana balansae, Prosopis kuntzei, Prosopis ruscifolia and Bulnesia sarmientoi, with minimal inhibitory concentrations (MIC) ranging from 0.08 to 0.5 mg dry matter/ml.  Further in vitro experiments measuring the growth of S. aureus in liquid culture confirmed that all of the above extracts at 2 x MIC were able to inhibit bacterial growth effectively, and that some of them (A. balansae, G. decorticans, P. dubium, G. spinosa, P. kuntzei and B. sarmientoi) were able to reduce the initial number of viable counts by at least one order of magnitude in 10 hours, indicating that these extracts should be investigated further for the possible presence of bactericidal components.

1) TOURSARKISSIAN, Martín. Plantas medicinales de Argentina : sus nombres botánicos, vulgares, usos y distribución geográfica. Buenos Aires : Hemisferio Sur, 1980, p.4.

2) CAETANO, S; NUSBAUMER, L; NACIRI, Y. Chloroplast and microsatellite markers in Astronium urundeuva (Allemao) Engl. and close species of Anacardiaceae: Toward the definition of a species complex.  Candollea. 2008, vol.63, nº1, p.115-130.

3) SALVAT, A, et al. Antimicrobial activity in methanolic extracts of several plant species from northern Argentina.   Phytomedicine : international journal of phytotherapy and phytopharmacology. 2004, vol.11, nº2-3, p.230-4.