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) The essential oils from the aerial parts of two samples of a population of Senecio nutans Sch.-Bip. (Asteraceae), collected in different seasons of the year in Luara region, Peru, were obtained by hydrodistn. and characterized by GC and GC-MS analyses.  In both oils, monoterpene hydrocarbons predominated with a-phellandrene and p-cymene as main constituents.  The oils were tested for their antibacterial activity on Gram-pos. and Gram-neg. bacterial strains, resulting in a weak activity against Staphylococcus epidermidis and Escherichia coli.

PARTE UTILIZADA= Used part: Planta entera, aceite esencial. 

COMPOSICIÓN QUÍMICA= Pharmacological action: The chemical composition of the essential oil obtained from Senecio graveolens (Compositae) was analyzed by GLC–MS and the components identified were: isovaleraldehyde, alpha-pinene, alpha-phellandrene, alpha-terpinene, rho-cymene, sabinene, gamma-terpinene, 1-methyl-4-isopropenylbenzene, terpinolene, terpinen-4-ol, piperitenone, alpha- and beta-eudesmol. The investigation by the agar-well diffusion method of the antimicrobial activity of the essential oil proved that it has antibacterial effects on Micrococcus luteus ATCC 9341, oxacillin-sensitive and oxacillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, as well as antifungal effects on clinically isolated Candida albicans. The minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) values for M. luteus, oxacillin-sensitive S. aureus and C. albicans were 8.73, 10.91 and 2.13×10-2 mg/ml, respectively. The antimicrobial activity related to known antibiotics was calculated. These results would be compatible with a potential concentration-dependent selectivity of antifungal effect of S. graveolens essential oil. Minimal bactericidal concentration (MBC) is above 87.3 mg/ml. Thus the MBC/MIC ratio would be clearly higher than 1 (above 8), indicating a bacteriostatic effect of the essential oil. 

ZONA GEOGRÁFICA= Geografical zone: O. de Bolivia, N. de Chile y NO. de Argentina. 

-------------

Enfermedad o síntoma
Dermatitis

Resfrío y congestión

Tos

Problemas renales

Parte utilizada
Hoja, tallo, flor y fruto

Hoja, tallo, flor y fruto

Hoja, tallo, flor y fruto

Hoja, tallo, flor y fruto

Forma de preparación
Molida en un mortero y en mezcla con grasa de oveja

Infusión con vino

Infusión con cáscara de quirquincho y con agua o vino

Infusión con cáscara de limón

Modo de administración
Tópico

Vía oral

Vía oral

Vía oral

Origen
Tucumán, Argentina

1) TOURSARKISSIAN, Martín. Plantas medicinales de Argentina : sus nombres botánicos, vulgares, usos y distribución geográfica. Buenos Aires : Hemisferio Sur, 1980, p.38.

2) PEREZ, C.; AGNESE, A.M.; CABRERA, J.L. The essential oil of Senecio graveolens (Compositae): Chemical composition and antimicrobial activity tests. Journal of Ethnopharmacology .1999 , vol.66, nº1, p.91-96.
 
3) BELAUNDE, Alberto Juarez, et al. Chemical composition and antibacterial activity of Senecio nutans essential oil.  Journal of Essential Oil-Bearing Plants . 2007, vol.10, nº4, p.332-338.

4) Ceballos, Sergio J.; Perea Mario C./ Boletín Latinoamericano y del Caribe de Plantas Medicinales y Aromáticas, vol 13, no 1, 2014. - p. 47 - 68