PARTE UTILIZADA= Used part: Hoja.

ACCION FARMACOLOGICA= Pharmacological action: Sstringente, antiinflamatorio, diurético, estomacal, afecciones del hígado y riñón, y la disentería.

COMPOSICIÓN QUÍMICA= Chemical composition: The aim of this paper was to study the presence of condensed tannins (proanthocyanidins) from Ephedra americana Humb. et Bonpl. ex Wild. Methanolic extracts obtained from young and woody stems were analyzed and compaired. The only proanthocyanidin detected in young stems was prodelphinidin, while in the woody stems it was proapigeninidin. Quantitative differences between young and woody stems were also found, with higher contents of total phenols and proanthocyanidins in the young stems. These results are in agreement with the presence of high molecular weight compounds (polymers), while in woody stems mostly low molecular weight compounds appear. Due to their higher concentration and chemical structure, tannins could be considered in young stems as a sort of defense mechanism against predators.

ZONA GEOGRAFICA= Geografical zone: Argentina. 

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

The authors investigated the systematic position of Gnetales and other seed plant groups using mol. data from 119 land plant species.  More than 100 new sequences of rbcL, atpB, 26S, and 18S ribosomal DNA were analyzed together with available GenBank sequences.  To evaluate thoroughly the phylogenetic information of each gene, the four data sets were analyzed both sep. and combined using different character coding.  No supported conflict was found between codon positions in the plastid sequences, but the authors found a more complex pattern, indicating conflict between transitions and transversions, within each position.  Including all information, plastid data results in a "Gnetales basal" phylogeny, whereas nuclear data weakly supports anthophytes.  When transitions are excluded, Gnetales assoc. with conifers.  This study does not answer all questions on seed plant phylogeny, but it does show conifers as monophyletic with high support, rejecting a close relationship between Gnetales and the conifer family Pinaceae.  Nuclear and chloroplast data produced essentially identical phylogenies except for the position of the seed plant root, and a sister relationship between Gnetales and angiosperms could not be fully ruled out.  These results strongly conflict with previously published analyses of mitochondrial data.  

Summary
Pingo pingo (Ephedra americana – Ephedraceae) is a widely used medicinal plant in the Andean areas ranging from Peru to Argentina. The presence of ephedrine, however, could be considered as a limitation in its use among some patients, although the content of this alkaloid in the aerial parts seems to be low. Some preliminary pharmacological studies have shown antiinflammatory, antiulcerogenic and immunostimulant activity in the extracts.

1) TOURSARKISSIAN, Martín. Plantas medicinales de Argentina : sus nombres botánicos, vulgares, usos y distribución geográfica. Buenos Aires : Hemisferio Sur,1980, p.50.

2) RICCO, R.A., et al. Determination of the presence of condensed tannins in Ephedra americana Humb. et Bonpl. ex Wild (Ephedraceae) | [Determinacion de la Presencia de Taninos Condensados en Ephedra americana Humb. et Bonpl. ex Wild. (Ephedraceae)]. Acta Farmaceutica Bonaerense. 2004, vol.23, nº1, p.11-15.
 
3) RYDIN, Catarina; KALLERSJO, Mari; FRIIS, Else Marie. Seed plant relationships and the systematic position of Gnetales based on nuclear and chloroplast DNA: conflicting data, rooting problems, and the monophyly of conifers.  International Journal of Plant Sciences. 2002, vol.163, nº2, p.197-214.

4) ALONSO, Jorge ; DESMARCHELIER, Cristian. Plantas medicinales autóctonas de la Argentina : bases científicas para su aplicación en atención primaria de la salud.  Buenos Aires: L.O.L.A, 2005, p. 439.

5) Plantas medicinales autóctonas de la Argentina. Bases científicas para su aplicación en atención primaria de la salud / Jorge Alonso y Cristian Jorge Desmarchelier. - 1a ed. - Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires: Corpus Libros Médicos y Científicos, 2015.