PARTE UTILIZADA= Used part: tallo y cortesa.

ACCIÓN FARMACOLÓGICA= Pharmacological action: diurético, laxante, analgesico y depurativo.

POSOLOGÍA= Posology: Uso interno :1-3 g/dia de droga o sus preparacuiones equivalentes. Uso tópico: infusiones o decocciones equivalentes a 1-2 g por cada 250 ml de agua.

COMPOSICIÓN QUÍMICA= Chemical composition: Glucoalcaloidesdel tipo de los espirosamoles, en proporcion inferior a los contenidos de los frutos inmaduros. Saponósidos esteroídicos. Acidos dulcamarético y dulamárico.

ZONA GEOGRÁFICA= Geografical zone:  Africa del norte, Europa y Asia.

DIVERSIDAD GENÉTICA Y MEJORAMIENTO DE PLANTAS MEDICINALES= Medicinal plants and improvement of medicinal herbs:
 
Bittersweet (Solanum dulcamara), a European native weed, is widespread across a variety of habitats and often occurs as a coloniser of open, disturbed, ephemeral environments or wetlands, although it is also found in mountain habitats and on forest edges.  As recent studies have shown the potential utility of the species in plant breeding programs, we assembled a collection of bittersweet germplasm from natural populations found in Europe.  This collection was analyzed with conserved DNA-derived polymorphism (CDDP) and intron-targeting (IT) markers to assess genetic diversity found within and among the populations.  We found that there is limited genetic variability within the collected S.  Dulcamara accessions, with a greater proportion of allelic variation distributed among populations and considerably greater population structure at higher regional levels.  Although bittersweet is an outcrossing species, its population structure might be affected by its perennial self-compatible nature, reducing genetic diversity within regional populations and enhancing inbreeding leading to high interpopulation or spatial differentiation.  We found that populations have been sepd. by local selection of alleles, resulting in regional differentiation.  This has been accompanied by concurrent loss of genetic diversity within populations, although this process has not affected species-level genetic diversity.  Germplasm collecting strategies should be aimed at preserving overall genetic diversity in bittersweet nightshade by expanding sampling to southern Europe and to smaller regional geog. levels in northern and central Europe.

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) Three new 4-hydroxyisoflavans, named lyratin A (1), lyratin B (2) and lyratin C (3), along with a known compd., 4,7,2'trihydroxy-4'-methoxyisoflavan (4), were isolated from the whole plant of Solanum lyratum.  Their structures were established by detailed phys. data analyses.  In vitro, four compds. showed anti-inflammatory activities with inhibitory ratios of release of b-glucuronidase from polymorphonuclear leukocytes of rats in the range of 30.3-38.6% at 10 mM.
 
2) Alkaloids are well known for their antimicrobial activity.  Though all natural alkaloids come from plants, not all plants produce alkaloids.  Plants of the Solanaceae family are known for their high alkaloid content.  Alkaloids are found in all plant parts like roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits and seeds.  In the present study, those plant parts of Solanum dulcamara were selected which have been reported to produce a high content of a specific alkaloid: solanine (from unripe fruits), solasodine (from flowers) and b-solamarine (from roots).  These alkaloids were extd. from various parts of S. dulcamara by well-established methods and were screened for their antibacterial activity.  Human pathogenic bacteria, viz., Enterobacter aerogenes, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, were selected for the study.  All three alkaloids inhibited the growth of E. coli and s. aureus.  However, no significant activity was obsd. against E. aerogenes.  Min. inhibitory concn. and min. bactericidal concn. were also evaluated.

Origin

The temperate Himalayas from Kashmir to Sikkim at altitudes of 1,200 – 2,400 m.

Action:

Twigs and root bark— stimulating, expectorant, hepatic, astringent, antirheumatic, alterative, antifungal.

Dried branches— sedative and analgesic. Used for chronic bronchitis, chronic eczema and rheumatism.

1) Fitoterapia: vademecum de prescripción. 4ª. ed. Barcelona: Masson, 2003,p.210

2) POCZAI, P., et al. Genetic diversity assessment of bittersweet (Solanum dulcamara, Solanaceae) germplasm using conserved DNA-derived polymorphism and intron-targeting markers. Annals of Applied Biology. 2011, vol.159, nº1, p.141-153.

3) ZHANG, De-Wu, et al. New anti-inflammatory 4-hydroxyisoflavans from Solanum lyratum. Chemical & Pharmaceutical Bulletin. 2010, vol.58, nº6, p.840-842.

4) KUMAR, Padma; SHARMA, Bindu; BAKSHI, Nidhi. Biological activity of alkaloids from Solanum dulcamara L. Natural Product Research. 2009, vol.23, nº8, p.719-723.

5) Khare, C.P./ Indian Medicinal Plants. -- Nueva Dheli: Springer, 2007 . - p 611.