PARTE UTILIZADA= Used part: Partes aéreas.

ACCIÓN FARMACOLÓGICA= Pharmacological action: Tónico amargo, eupéptico, hepatoprotector, antidispépsico, febrífugo, antidiarréico, antihelmíntico y para anorexia, astenia y gastroenteritis. 

POSOLOGÍA= Posology: Internamente se usa la infusión como estomacal y para problemas hepáticos. Infusión al 1%. 

COMPOSICIÓN QUÍMICA= Chemical composition: Se ha registrado la presencia de los siguientes compuestos en las partes aéreas de esta planta: flavonoides apigenina, cirsiliol, cirsimaritina, eriodictiol, eupatrina, genkawanina; sesquiterpenos: Baccharis genistelloides clerodano diterpeno 4-A, germacreno D; diterpenos: Baccharis trimera diterpeno 2-A, Baccharis trimera diterpeno 1-B, ácido 3,4-deshidro-16,19-dihidroxi-7-oxo-celerodano-15,20-dióico lactona, ácido 3,4-deshidro-16,19-dihidroxi-7-oxo-clerodano-15,20-dioico-dilactona; lignanos: 3,4-dimetoxicinnamato de bencilo. 

ZONA GEOGRÁFICA= Geografical zone: sur de Brasil, Bolivia, Argentina, Uruguay. 

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

The impact of Candiota coal-fired thermal power plant on air quality was evaluated during two years by means of passive biomonitoring. The monitoring consisted of the quarterly collection of leaf samples of Baccharis dracunculifolia, Elephantopus mollis, Eryngium horridum, Paspalum notatum and Piptochaetium montevidense or the shoot of Baccharis trimera at five sites located in the area around the power plant. The element load of these plants was used as indicator for atmospheric pollution. In the samples collected, sulphur and heavy metal cadmium contents were measured. Among the species evaluated, E. mollis presented the highest potential to accumulate metal, followed by B. trimera. The Aeroporto and AFUCAN sampling sites, located in the prevailing wind directions, presented the highest level of metal contamination. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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) Carqueja (Baccharis trimer a Less) is a common plant native from South America.  In this work, the global yield (X0) of carqueja oil, extd. by means of supercrit. CO2 at 30 and 40 °C and from 100 to 300 bar, was investigated.  The max. solvent flow rate employed was 8.33 gCO2/min, with extn. times up to 6 h.  The global yields varied from 0.34 to 2.07% (wt./wt.).  Addnl., the supercrit. process was compared with the org. solvent extn. in terms of yield and oil compn. profile.  Carqueja exts. were analyzed by gas chromatog.-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and 14 different components were identified.  The math. models proposed by Tan and Liou, Brunner, Sovova and Esquivel et al. were used for the description of the kinetic aspects of the supercrit. process.  The modeled results showed good agreement with exptl. data esp. for the const. extn. rate period (CER).

2) There is increasing interest in the development and use of polyphenolic-rich antioxidant exts. as functional ingredients.  However, their bitterness, astringency and characteristic flavor could limit their incorporation in foods and beverages.  Four alternatives to reduce the bitterness, astringency, and characteristic flavor of antioxidant exts. of two Uruguayan native plants (Achyrocline satureioides and Baccharis trimera) were studied: sucrose, sucralose, polydextrose, and milk.  All the evaluated alternatives highly significantly (p < 0.001) reduced the bitterness, astringency and characteristic flavor of the exts.  However, their effectiveness depended on the type and concn. of the antioxidant ext. being considered.  Milk was the most effective inhibitor of the bitterness, astringency and characteristic flavor of A. satureioides exts.; whereas when exts. from B. trimera were considered, sucrose was the most effective alternative.  Results from the present work suggest that sweetened dairy products could be interesting carriers for the development of functional foods contg. polyphenolic-rich antioxidant exts.

3) The Baccharis species, known in Brazil as "carquejas" are used for digestive disorders in folk medicine.  Phytochem. studies reported the presence of phenolic and terpenoid compds. as the main constituents and the literature also describes anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antimicrobial activities for the Baccharis species.  Due to difficult botanical characterization, the development of chem. differentiation of these plants is important.  In this paper, the authors present the chem. characterization of 5 native Baccharis species to Southern Brazil by TLC, using just one mobile phase and 2 colors reagents.

Parts Used: fruit.                                                                                                    

Uses: colics, anemia.                                                 

Origin: Barzil.       

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Summary
Carquejas (Baccharis spp. – Asteraceae) are South American herbs and shrubs, mostly used in Argentina and other regions of the Continent as digestive, hepatoprotective, cholagogue, diuretic, anti-diarrheic, febrifuge, cardiotonic, contraceptive, and aphrodisiac agents. Most pharmacological studies to date have focused on the choleretic, cholagogue, antimicrobial, antiinflammatory, analgesic, antitumour, hypoglycaemic and hypotensive actions of these plants.

1) ALONSO PAZ, Eduardo ; BASSAGODA, María Julia ; FERREIRA, Fernando. Yuyos : uso racional de las plantas medicinales. Montevideo : Fin de siglo, 1992, p.40-41.

2) 270 (doscientos setenta) plantas medicinales iberoamericanas. Santiago de Bogotá : CYTED-SECAB, 1995. p.83-84

3) DIVAN JR., A.M, et al. Using wild plant species as indicators for the accumulation of emissions from a thermal power plant, Candiota, South Brazil. Ecological Indicators. 2009, vol.9, nº6, p.1156-1162.
 
4) ALONSO PAZ, Eduardo ; BASSAGODA, María Julia ; FERREIRA, Fernando. Yuyos : uso racional de las plantas medicinales. 2da. ed. Montevideo : Fin de Siglo, 2007, p. 48.

5) SILVA, Danielle C. M. N., et al. Supercritical fluid extraction of carqueja (Baccharis trimera) oil: process parameters and composition profiles. Food and Bioproducts Processing. 2009, vol.87, nº4, p.317-326.
 
6) ARES, Gaston, et al. Alternatives to reduce the bitterness, astringency and characteristic flavour of antioxidant extracts.   Food Research International. 2009, vol.42, nº7, p.871-878.
 
7) QUINTANA DE OLIVEIRA, Simone, et al. Differentiation of South Brazilian Baccharis species by TLC. Journal of Liquid Chromatography & Related Technologies. 2006, vol.29, nº17, p.2603-2609.

6) 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. 127.

7) Bueno, Regina Norlene, et al., Acta bot. bras. vol. 19, no. 1, 2005. p.-- 39-44.

8) 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.