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

1) Broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. italic) fortified with selenium (Se) has been promoted as a functional food.  Here, we evaluated 38 broccoli accessions for their capacity to accumulate Se and for their responses to selenate treatment in terms of nutritional qualities and sulfur gene expression.  We found that the total Se content varied with over 2-fold difference among the leaf tissues of broccoli accessions when the plants were treated with 20 mM Na2SeO4.  Approx. half of total Se accumulated in leaves was Se-methylselenocysteine and selenomethionine.  Transcriptional regulation of adenosine 5'-phosphosulfate sulfurylase and selenocysteine Se-methyltransferase gene expression might contribute to the different levels of Se accumulation in broccoli.  Total glucosinolate contents were not affected by the concn. of selenate application for the majority of broccoli accessions.  Essential micronutrients (i.e., Fe, Zn, Cu, and Mn) remained unchanged among half of the germplasm.  Moreover, the total antioxidant capacity was greatly stimulated by selenate in over half of the accessions.  The diverse genotypic variation in Se, glucosinolate, and antioxidant contents among accessions provides the opportunity to breed broccoli cultivars that simultaneously accumulate Se and other health benefit compds.

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) Chromium (Cr) is one of the most common heavy-metal contaminant in groundwater, soil and sediments.  Cr is a toxic element that occurs in highly variable oxidn. states.  Since Cr (VI) is a strong oxidant, it may cause severe oxidative stress in plant tissue.  However, the antioxidative responses of plants to excess Cr have not been studied critically.  Thus, the present study was undertaken to assess antioxidative responses of Brassica juncea L. and Brassica oleracea L. plants as models because of their phytoremediation capacity of metal enriched soils under different levels of Cr (VI) treatments.  Seedlings were grown in 15 cm ´ 17 cm pots contg. turf mixt. in a greenhouse for 6 wk.  Then plants were irrigated with the solns. contg. 0, 0.05, 0.25, 0.5 and 1 mM Cr (VI) for 10 wk.  Fully expanded leaves were collected from the plants at the end of the treatments for catalase (CAT), ascorbate peroxidase (APX) and glutathione reductase (GR) analyses.  Even though both species showed a similar trend in response to Cr (VI) treatments, the total enzyme activities were higher in Brassica oleracea L. than in Brassica juncea L. Cr (VI) treatments significantly decreased the activities of CAT depending on the Cr concns. in both species.  After the significant increase, a sharp decrease was obsd. in the activity of APX and GR in both species.  Data indicated that a coordinated increase in APX and GR activities in both Brassica species under Cr stress played a role as signals to protect the plants from Cr-induced stress.
 
2) Exts. of three vegetables very used in Romanian cuisine, Brassica oleracea, Allium cepa and Beta vulgaris were obtained by continuous and ultrasonic extn. methods.  Antioxidant activity of exts. was tested using a new flow injection anal. method with chemiluminescence detection (FIA-CL) developed for rapid total antioxidant capacity (TAC) detn.  DPPH free radical scavenging method was also used for antioxidant activity.  Total phenols (TP), total flavonoids content and anthocyanins were detd. spectrophotometrically for the obtained exts.  This study illustrates that phenols have a considerable contribution to the antioxidant activity of analyzed vegetables.
 
3) Cabbage is commonly used as a vegetable in several cuisines and as a herbal remedy in many ailment conditions.  In this study, some in vivo and in vitro tests were carried out.  Biochem. parameters like total serum cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL and HDL were estd. enzymically.  Anti-platelet assay was performed by using ADP as an agonist in the aggregometer.  Lipid peroxidn. was calcd. in serum using TBARS assay, while the anti-oxidant effect of cabbage was evaluated through the use of DPPH free radical scavenging assay.  As compared to the control, the ethanolic ext. of cabbage decreased total lipid, total cholesterol, triglycerides and LDL, while increased serum HDL.  It also significantly increased the anti-atherogenic index (p<0.05).  Furthenuore, it significantly inhibited platelet aggregation as compared to the control group (p<0.05).  TBARS assay decreased lipid peroxides to a considerable extent than the control.  DPPH free radical scavenging assay showed strong inhibition of free radical at a concn. of 5mg/mL of water ext., as well as ethanolic ext. at the same concn.  These results suggest that cabbage possesses certain medicinal effects that can potentially contribute to the prevention and treatment of various life-threatening conditions, like myocardial infarction, atherosclerosis and other assocd. modalities.

Patente extraída del Chemical Abstracts
 
Method for protecting useful plants or plant propagation material.      Anon.    UK.    Research Disclosure  (2006),  507(July),  P783-P791.  Publisher: Kenneth Mason Publications Ltd.,  CODEN: RSDSBB  ISSN: 0374-4353.  RD  507002  20060710  Journal; Patent  written in English.    Priority: RD  2006-507002  20060710.  CAN 146:416630    AN 2006:873475    CAPLUS   (Copyright (C) 2011 ACS on SciFinder (R))  
 
A method for protecting useful plants or propagation material, such as seed, against phytopathogenic diseases involves applying 3-difluoromethyl-1-methyl-1H-pyrazole-4-carboxylic acid (2-bicyclopropyl-2-ylphenyl)amide or a mixt. comprising this carboxamide fungicide and ³1 other pesticide.  This carboxamide may be used as a seed treatment fungicide in straight form or in a compn. comprising a solid or liq. carrier or diluent and optionally a wetting, dispersing or emulsifying agent.  Examples of seed treatment formulations are provided.

Uses: heartburn, stmach, gastritis, ulcer, flu, low inmunity.                                                 

Origin: Bolivia, China, Ecuador, Gabon, Greenland, Honduras, Mexica, USA. 

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Range. Native to western Europe; cultivated worldwide.

Uses
Leaf: Used in the treatment of skin diseases as well as in diuretic and laxative prepa­rations.

Seed: Used to promote appetite and digestion; also used as a diuretic and laxative.

PARTE UTILIZADA= Used part: Las hojas frescas.

ACCIÓN FARMACOLÓGICA= Pharmacological action: Febrífuga, antirreumática y vulneraria.

POSOLOGÍA= Posology: Dolor de reuma y gota. Coger 1 o 2 hojas y recalentarlas al vapor. Después ponerlas sobre una gasa o tela y, una vez que alcancen el calor del cuerpo, colocarlas sobre la parte dolorida. Se repite la aplicación varias veces.

COMPOSICIÓN QUÍMICA= Chemical composition: Contiene principalmente bromuro de metioninmetilsufonio (vitamina U); lleva también sales minerales, hierro, yodo

ZONA GEOGRÁFICA= Geografical zone: Caminos.

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Clima:
cálido, templado y frío. Crece entre los 0 y los 2.500 metros sobre el nivel del mar
Partes utilizadas:
hojas.
USOS MEDICINALES
Internos:
- Se usa como digestivo.
- Sirve para tratar la gastritis y las úlceras digestivas
Externos:
- Sirve para sanar las quemaduras.
PRECAUCIONES
Las personas que sufren hipotiroidismo o que toman medicamentos que alteren la coagulación de la sangre no deben consumirla.

1) ALFARO, Txumari, Plantas y remedios naturales de los caminos de santiago. Barcelona: B.S.A. 2008, p. 78.

2) RAMOS, Silvio J., et al. Evaluation of Genotypic Variation of Broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. italic) in Response to Selenium Treatment.  Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 2011, Vol.59, nº8, p.3657-3665.
 
3)  ZAIMOGLU, Zeynep, et al. Antioxidative enzyme activities in Brassica juncea L. and Brassica oleracea L. plants under chromium stress. Journal of Food, Agriculture & Environment. 2011, Vol.9, nº1, p.676-679.

4) LUNGU, Liliana, et al. Antioxidant activity of Brassica oleracea L., Allium cepa L. and Beta vulgaris L. extracts.  Revista de Chimie (Bucharest, Romania). 2010, Vol.61, nº10, p.911-914.
 
5) WAQAR, Muhammad Anwar; MAHMOOD, Yasir. Anti-platelet, anti-hypercholesterolemic and anti-oxidant effects of ethanolic extracts of Brassica oleracea in high fat diet provided rats. World Applied Sciences Journal. 2010, Vol.8, nº1, p.107-112.

6) Geraldini , Isanete, Journal of Ethnopharmacology v. 173, 2015 . -- p. 383-423

7) DeFilipps, Robert A.; Krupnick, Gary A. / PhytoKeys, v. 102. - - p. 1 - 314,  2018.

8) Fundación secretos para contar/ Los secretos de las plantas: 50 plantas medicinales en su huerta. - Medellin: Colombia, 2014. - p. 44.