PARTE UTILIZADA= Used part: Planta entera. 

ACCION FARMACOLOGICA= Pharmacological action: Astringente, para enfermedades del hígado y antidiarreico. 

COMPOSICIÓN QUÍMICA= Chemical composition: Compounds Flavonoids: including rutin, quercetin-3-O-rhamnogalactoside, kaempferol-3-O-rhamnoglucoside, hyperoside. Tannis: geraniin, isogeraniin, beta-penta-O-galloylglucose. 

ZONA GEOGRAFICA= Geografical zone: Uruguay. 

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

DNA barcoding involves sequencing a std. region of DNA as a tool for species identification.  However, there has been no agreement on which region(s) should be used for barcoding land plants.  To provide a community recommendation on a std. plant barcode, the authors compared the performance of 7 leading candidate plastid DNA regions (atpF-atpH spacer, matK gene, rbcL gene, rpoB gene, rpoC1 gene, psbK-psbI spacer, and trnH-psbA spacer).  Based on assessments of recoverability, sequence quality, and levels of species discrimination, the 2-locus combination of rbcL+matK was recommended as the plant barcode.  This core 2-locus barcode will provide a universal framework for the routine use of DNA sequence data to identify specimens and contribute toward the discovery of overlooked species of land plants.  Sequence data are deposited in GenBank/EMBL/DDBJ with accession nos. GQ247894-GQ248069, GQ248071-GQ248710, GQ248715-GQ249040, GQ273984-GQ273987, GQ274310-GQ274318, and GQ335519-GQ335521.

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) In this study 6% and 10% Geranium robertianum aq. exts., as well as 10% (mass concn.) hydro-alc. exts. in 50% and 70% alc. were obtained.  They were purified and concd. using procedures based on porous membranes.  The exts. were characterized in terms of total polyphenols content detn. and antioxidant capacity assessment.  Total polyphenols were, quantified using Folin-Ciocalteu method, while the antioxidant capacity was assessed by two spectrophotometrical methods: 2,2-diphenyl-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2'- azinobis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS).  The obtained results evidenced that the applied membranous (micro- and ultrafiltration) procedures resulted in some concd. G. robertianum exts. having a high antioxidant capacity (92% percent of DPPH inhibition).

2) 8%, 10% and 15% (mass concn.) hydro-alc. exts. of Geranium robertianum in 50%, 70% and 96% alc. were obtained.  They were further purified and concd. through membranare procedures (ultrafiltration).  2 types of membranes were used: Millipore ultrafiltration membranes of regenerated cellulose with 10.000 Da cut-off and composite membrane: polysulfona-polyaniline - PSF/PANI.  The contents of flavones, total polyphenols, proteins and reducing sugars in all exts.' types ranged between: 7.233- 72.71 mg/mL-flavones, 271.17 - 437.07 mg/mL - polyphenols, 1.262 - 2.40 mg/mL - proteins and 153.10 - 661.60 mg/mL - sugars.  It was ascertained that such contents were proportional to plant mass and to the used solvent concn., the max. being obtained in exts. realized in 70% ethanol, with 10% plant mass.  The increase of ethanol concns. and plant mass above the mentioned values resulted in the decrease of the concn. of the studied compds.

Origin:
Western Himalayas from Kashmir to Garhwal at 2,000-2,700 m.

Action:
Haemostatic, astringent, antidiarrhoeic, styptic, antidiabetic. Applied externally as a resolvent to tumours. In Western herbal, the herb is used for diarrhoea, to improve functioning of liver and gallbladder and to prevent the formation of calculi.

1) GONZALEZ, Matías ; LOMBARDO, Atilio ; VALLARINO, Aida. Plantas de la medicina vulgar del Uruguay. Montevideo : Talleres Gráficos,1937, p.109.

2) PDR for herbal medicines. 4th ed. Montvale: Thomson Healthcare Inc., 2007. p. 442.

3) Hollingsworth, Peter M, et al..A  DNA  barcode for land plants. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2009, vol.106, nº31, p.12794-12797.

4)  NEAGU, Elena, et al. Evaluation of antioxidant capacity of Geranium robertianum extracts. Revue Roumaine de Chimie. 2010, vol.55, nº6, p.321-325.
 
5) NEAGU, Elena, et al. Concentration of the bioactive principles in Geranium robertianum extracts through membranare procedures (ultrafiltration). Romanian Biotechnological Letters. 2010, vol.15, p.5042-5048.

6) Khare, C.P./ Indian Medicinal Plants. -- Nueva Dheli: Springer, 2007 . - p. 836.