PARTE UTILIZADA= Used part: Hojas.

ACCIÓN FARMACOLÓGICA= Pharmacological action: Estimulante estomacal, ayuda a eliminar los gases resultantes de una mala digestión.

POSOLOGÍA= Posology: Se puede usar como infu´ión o como tintura. Infusión de 25 a 30 gr. de hojas por litro de agua. Dosis aconsejada cuatro tazas al día, preferentemente después de las comidas.

COMPOSICIÓN QUÍMICA= Chemical composition: Distn. of the herbage yielded 0.15% of a golden yellow oil with the following properties: sp. gr. 0.9087 at 22° optical rotation - 1°12prime;; n25D 1.495; sapon. value 5.3; sapon. value after acetylation 147.5; phenol content (carvacrol) 38.0%; sol. ³ 1.5 vol. 80% alc.

ZONA GEOGRÁFICA= Geografical zone: Argentina.

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 antioxidant characteristics of the phenolic water fraction of the annual plant Satureia hortensis have been studied.  Rabbit liver microsomes served as the oxidative system arid arachidonic acid as a substrate.  By administering carbon monoxide, NADPH and dimethylaniline the participation of cytochrome P 450-dependent monooxygenase in the oxidn. process was examd.  Aspirin and phenolic compds. of Satureia hortensis were used to study other oxidative systems of rabbit liver microsomes characterized by arachidonic acid consumption.  The results obtained showed that arachidonic acid was oxidized in microsomes and the process was intensified in the presence of NADPH.  Cytochrome P 450-dependent monooxygenase is not the only oxidizer of arachidonic acid: other oxidative systems of rabbit liver microsomes also take part in this process.  The phenolic fraction of Satureia hortensis inhibits more strongly than carbon monoxide, a std. inhibitor of cytochrome P 450-dependent monooxygenase and other microsomal oxidative systems.  The inhibitory effect manifested in vitro correlates with the analogous action of aspirin-one of the primary representatives of nonsteroid anti-inflammatory drugs.

2) The behavioral responses of the female cigarette beetle to 57 plant essential oils commonly used for the flavoring of foods and cosmetics, were investigated with an olfactometer.  Forty-eight of these essential oils exhibited repellency and only patchouli oil exhibited attractiveness at a dose of 1 ml.  The repellency of the 28 essential oils that strongly repelled the beetles at this dose were furthermore evaluated at a dose of 0.1 ml.  Six plant oils (shiso, savory, cassia, thyme, peppermint and Litsea cubeba oils) strongly repelled the beetles at this dose.  Then, the dose-responses of these six oils on repellency against the beetles were investigated.  These oils exhibited attractiveness at lower doses than each threshold except shiso oil, which did not attract the beetles at any doses tested.  The first major components of these six oils repelled the beetles at a dose of 1 ml or 1 mg.  However the repellency of these components was less than that of each essential oil.  The repellency of shiso oil in the presence of cured tobacco odor, which attracted the beetles, was further evaluated.  Shiso oil repelled the beetles at a dose of 10 ml even in the presence of the tobacco odor.

1) CONSELL, Danilo M. Enciclopedia de plantas que curan. Buenos Aires: Ediliba, 1987. 2 volúmenes. p. 14.

2) MANJANATHA, T. R., et al.  Essential oil from Satureia hortensis. Indian Perfumer. 1964, Vol.8, nº2, p.73-6.
 
3) KUCHUKASHVILI, Z., et al. Antioxidant characteristics of phenolic compounds of Satureia hortensis. Journal of Biological Physics and Chemistry. 2003, Vol.3, nº3/4, p.85-88.
 
4) HORI, Masatoshi. Repellency of essential oils against the cigarette beetle, Lasioderma serricorne (Fabricius) (Coleoptera: Anobiidae). Applied Entomology and Zoology. 2003, Vol.38, nº4, p.467-473.