PARTE UTILIZADA=Used part: La raíz fresca y la planta florida.

ACCIÓN FARMACOLÓGICA=Pharmacological action: Diurético, expectorante, sudorífico, emenagogo y aperitivo.

POSOLOGÍA=Posology: Rebajar el azúcar (glucosa) en la orina de los diabéticos. Cocer 30g de la raíz seca en medio litro de agua durante 5 minutos. Dejar reposar hasta que se enfríe y colar. Este tratamiento se toma todo en un mismo día, repartido en 3 o 4 tomas fuera de las comidas. Seguir tomándolo durante 2 semanas. Es un buen auxiliar y, según referencias. suele hacer disminuir la glucosa de la orina en los diabéticos.

COMPOSICIÓN QUÍMICA=Chemical composition: La raíz contiene saponinas, taninos, inulina, resina, goma, goma y sales de potasio.

ZONA GEOGRÁFICA=Geografical zone: Caminos de Santiago.

DIVERSIDAD GENÉTICA Y MEJORAMIENTO DE PLANTAS MEDICINALES= GENETIC DIVERSITY AND IMPROVEMENT OF MEDICINAL PLANTS:

In Germany, Eryngium campestre is restricted to dry habitats along the rivers Rhine and Elbe and to a few areas in Central Germany.  This distribution pattern is usually regarded as a typical pattern of postglacial immigration.  In the present study, we investigated whether these two geographically distinct distribution areas are genetically differentiated and whether conclusions can be drawn regarding colonization history.  To analyse the phylogeographic structure of E. campestre in Central Europe, 278 individuals from 29 populations within Germany and from further reference populations within Europe were analysed.  We applied amplified fragment length polymorphisms to examine their genetic relatedness.  Our analyses revealed three groups: a Mediterranean group additionally including two Rhine populations; a Rhine-Main group which further includes the westernmost population from the central German dry area; and one group which includes all eastern populations.  Our results show that the two geographically distinct areas are genetically differentiated.  As genetic diversity within the Elbe populations is very low, we conclude that this area, which was strongly affected through the late glacial maximum, was colonized relatively recently.  High genetic diversity in the Rhine populations indicates a contact zone where lineages of different origin met.  This would imply that today's patterns of genetic variation were caused through glacial range contractions and expansions.  The present study is one of the first studies that deal with the postglacial distribution pattern of a dry grassland plant species in Central Europe and the results suggest that a survival of E. campestre at least during the Dryas cold stage might be possible.

ÚLTIMOS AVANCES EN LA QUÍMICA Y ACTIVIDADES BACTERIOLÓGICAS EN LAS PLANTAS MEDICINALES= RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN THE CHEMICAL AND BACTERIOLOGICAL ACTIVITIES IN MEDICINAL PLANTS:

1) The chem. compn. of the essential oils of Eryngium campestre, E. thorifolium, and E. creticum (Apiaceae), growing in the Aegean region of Turkey (Mount Sandras, Denizli), was detd. by direct thermal desorption (DTD)-GC/MS analyses.  A total of 49 components were identified in the oils, a-pinene and hexanal being the major compds.  The three essential oils were also tested for their inhibitory activity of nine different methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains by the agar disk diffusion method.  The anti-MRSA activity of E. thorifolium oil, the most active of the three oils, was comparable with those of the ref. antibiotic vancomycin and oregano oil, although somewhat lower.

2) The essential oil compn. of the aerial parts of four populations of Eryngium campestre has been analyzed by GC and GC/MS.  Samples growing in different types of soil were gathered at the same phenol. state.  A total of 84 compds. have been identified from the different samples under anal.  Qual. and quant. differences were found between inflorescences (I) and stems and leaves (SL) of the different populations.  The main constituents of the inflorescences were identified as germacrene D (30.3-40.3%), b-curcumene (0.7-22.2%), myrcene (3.0-21.7%) and (E)-b-farnesene (0.1-19.0%).  The type of soil seemed to exert an influence on the chem. compn. of the oils of this species.  Whereas high concns. of myrcene were found in the populations growing in acid soil, its concn. was significantly lower in the alk. populations.  b-Curcumene concn. was higher in the populations growing in alk. soil and was practically absent from the acid soil population.  Regarding the stems and leaves, only germacrene D (31.1-42.4%) and myrcene (0.5-23.15) were considered as main constituents, their compn. not being affected by the type of soil.  However, terpenoid distribution was clearly influenced by the soil, with the population growing in acid soil contg. a greater amt. of monoterpenes than that of the population growing in alk. soil.  A more exhaustive study needs to be carried out in order to confirm if the biosynthesis of these compds. could be influenced by the availability of Ca2+ in the soil.

3) The essential oil obtained by hydrodistn. of the flowering aerial parts of Eryngium campestre L. (Apiaceae) growing in Egypt was analyzed by GC/MS.  Twenty three Components were identified of which g-cadinen-15-al (23.3%), spathulenol (10.7%), octanoic acid (9.8%) and arom. curcumene (8.6%) were the major components.  The retention indexes of the identified components were detd.  The volatile oil exhibited a potent antimicrobial activity against some of the tested microorganisms and its min. inhibitory concn. (MIC) was detd.  The cytotoxic activity of the oil was investigated using lung and cervix carcinoma cell lines.

1) ALFARO, Txumari, Plantas y remedios naturales de los caminos de santiago. Barcelona: B.S.A. 2008, p. 64.

2) CELIK, Ali; AYDINILIK, Niluefer; ARSIAN, Idris. Phytochemical Constituents and Inhibitory Activity towards Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Strains of Eryngium Species (Apiaceae). Chemistry & Biodiversity. 2011, Vol.8, nº3, p.454-459.
 
3) PALA-PAUL, Jesus, et al. Essential oil composition of Eryngium campestre L. growing in different soil types. A preliminary study. Natural Product Communications. 2008, Vol.3, nº7, p.1121-1126.
 
4) ABD-ELMONEM, A. R.; SHEHAB, N. G. Study of the volatile oil of Eryngium campestre l. growing in Egypt. Bulletin of the Faculty of Pharmacy (Cairo University). 2006, Vol. 44, nº1, p.53-57.
 
5) BYLEBYL, Kathrin; POSCHLOD, Peter; REISCH, Christoph  Genetic variation of Eryngium campestre L. (Apiaceae) in Central Europe. Molecular ecology. 2008, Vol.17, nº14, p.3379-88.