PARTE UTILIZADA= Used part: Tallo y hoja.

ACCIÓN FARMACOLÓGICA= Pharmacological action: Cicatrizante.

ZONA GEOGRÁFICA= Geografical zone : America. 

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

An extended GC-MS study of 129 convolvulaceous species belonging to 29 genera (all 12 tribes) including the results of a previous survey (65 spp.) revealed the occurrence of one to six polyhydroxy alkaloids of the nortropane type (calystegines) in 62 species belonging to 22 genera of all tribes except the unique parasitic Cuscuteae.  The large genus Ipomoea turned out to comprise calystegine-pos. species in at least eight out of ten sections checked.  The no. of the calystegines used as ref. compds. has been increased from seven (previous survey) to 11 (present study).  Furthermore, the results concerning these addnl. four alkaloids could also be completed for all species of the previous survey.  The plant material (epigeal vegetative parts and/or roots, flowers, fruits/seeds) was obtained from collections in the wild from a wide range of tropical, subtropical, and temperate locations of all continents as well as from cultivation in the greenhouse.  All plant organs turned out to be potential locations for the occurrence of these metabolites though they are detectable often only in certain organs of a given species.  Three genera (Cuscuta, Operculina, Polymeria) might have lost the ability to synthesize these plesiomorphic characters in the course of the evolution since the examn. of several different organs and/or provenances of five species each failed to show calystegines as constituents.  Nevertheless, the present data clearly demonstrate that the occurrence of calystegines is an almost consistent trait in the Convolvulaceae in principle, from basal to most advanced tribes.   

1) TOURSARKISSIAN, Martín. Plantas medicinales de Argentina : sus nombres botánicos, vulgares, usos y distribución geográfica. Buenos Aires : Hemisferio Sur, 1980, p.43.

2) SCHIMMING, Thomas, et al. Calystegines as chemotaxonomic markers in the Convolvulaceae.  Phytochemistry (Elsevier). 2005, vol.66, nº4, p.469-480.