PARTE UTILIZADA= Used part: Botones florales y raíz.

ACCIÓN FARMACOLÓGICA= Pharmacological action: Diurético, aperitiva, orexígena.

COMPOSICIÓN QUÍMICA: Rutina, pectina y una saponina.

ZONA GEOGRÁFICA= Geografical zone: Cuenca mediterránea , norte de África y Medio Oriente

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

A genetic fingerprinting technique (AFLP) was used to det. the relationships among Capparis spp.  Genetic distances, based on AFLP data were estd. for 45 accessions of Capparis species, from Spain, Morocco and Syria.  The results of this anal. support the differentiation of four of the five taxa involved.  The group of plants recognized as C. spinosa on the basis of morphol. characters, includes several cultivars and appears in an intermediate position between C. orientalis and C. sicula and overlaps with C. orientalis.  The other two species C. aegyptia and C. ovata are sep. from the rest.  Capparis spinosa had a low no. of unique bands in comparison with the other species.  Although these results cannot confirm the hybrid origin of C. spinosa, the distribution of the bands supports this hypothesis, the most likely parental species being C. orientalis and C. sicula.

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) An ext. of Capparis spinosa L. roots, widely used in the traditional folk medicine of southern Italy, was prepd. and submitted to antibacterial testing.  There was bacteriostatic activity against Deinococcus radiophilus.  Heterocyclic compds. were also recovered from the chloroformic ext. of the roots.

2) Caper (Capparis spinosa L.) fruits have been used as food as well as folk medicine in the treatment of inflammatory disorders, such as rheumatism.  The present study was carried out to study the anti-inflammatory activities of C. spinosa L. fruit (CSF) aq. ext. and to isolate main phytochems. from its bioactive fractions.  The CSF aq. ext. were sepd. into three fractions (CSF1-CSF3) by macroporous adsorption resins.  The fractions CSF2 and CSF3 effectively inhibited the carrageenan-induced paw edema in mice.  Systematic fractionation and isolation from CSF2+3 led to the identification of 13 compds. (1-13).  Their chem. structures were elucidated by spectroscopic analyses including NMR and mass spectrometry (MS) and literature comparisons.  Major compds. found in the bioactive fraction CSF2+3 are flavonoids, indoles, and phenolic acids.  To our knowledge, 8 of these 13 compds. (1-4, 6-7, 10, and 13) were identified from caper fruits for the first time.  The anti-inflammatory effects of these purified compds. are currently under investigation.

3) An activity-directed fractionation and purifn. process was used to isolate 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH×) scavenging components from fruits of Capparis spinosa L. (Capparaeae).  Et acetate and aq. fractions showed greater DPPH× scavenging activities compared to the petroleum ether fractions.  The Et acetate fraction was subjected to purifn. using column chromatog.  A new antioxidant cappariside (4-hydroxy-5-methylfuran-3-carboxylic acid, 1), together with seven known org. acids (2-8) for the first time from plants of genus Capparis and four known org. acids (9-12) were isolated from C. spinosa.  The structures were elucidated by extensive anal. of 1D- and 2D-NMR spectroscopic.  In addn., compds. 1, 2, 4, 5, 9, 10, and 12 indicated strong scavenging capacity for 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radicals with a SC50 value of 0.204 ± 0.002, 0.007 ± 0.0, 0.011 ± 0.0, 0.044 ± 0.0016, 0.032 ± 0.0, 0.090 ± 0.001, and 0.350 ± 0.017 mM, resp.

Patente extraída del Chemical Abstracts= Patent extrated from the Database Chemical Abstracts

Compositions comprising polysaccharides from Opuntia Ficus Indica for treatment of hemorrhoids and related diseases. Rizza, Luisa; Munafo, Salvatore; Serraino, Alberto.  (Bionap Srl, Italy).    PCT Int. Appl.  (2011),     30pp.  CODEN: PIXXD2  WO  2011026606  A2  20110310  Designated States W: AE, AG, AL, AM, AO, AT, AU, AZ, BA, BB, BG, BH, BR, BW, BY, BZ, CA, CH, CL, CN, CO, CR, CU, CZ, DE, DK, DM, DO, DZ, EC, EE, EG, ES, FI, GB, GD, GE, GH, GM, GT, HN, HR, HU, ID, IL, IN, IS, JP, KE, KG, KM, KN, KP, KR, KZ, LA, LC, LK, LR, LS, LT, LU, LY, MA, MD, ME, MG, MK, MN, MW, MX, MY, MZ, NA, NG, NI, NO, NZ, OM, PE, PG, PH, PL, PT, RO, RS, RU, SC, SD, SE, SG, SK, SL, SM, ST, SV, SY, TH, TJ.  Designated States RW: AT, BE, CH, CY, DE, DK, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, IE, IS, IT, LU, MC, MT, NL, NO, PT, SE, SM, TR, BF, BJ, CF, CG, CI, CM, GA, ML, MR, NE, SN, TD, TG.  Patent  written in English.    Application: WO  2010-EP5346  20100901.  Priority: IT  2009-MI1523  20090902.  CAN 154:318718    AN 2011:293561    CAPLUS   (Copyright (C) 2011 ACS on SciFinder (R)) 

The present invention relates to pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, health foods and medical device compns. comprising polysaccharides from Opuntia Ficus Indica cladodes in combination with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory plant exts. as well as those from Olive leaf, Capparis Spinosa buttons, anthocianosides from red oranges, black rice or from other natural sources and their combinations, useful for prevention and therapy of hemorrhoidal disease and related diseases.  The invention compns. may be applied topically or administered by oral route.  Thus, capsule comprised: Opuntia Ficus Indica cladodes ext. 200-400 mg; Olea europaea leaf ext. 200-400 mg; Lactose up to capsule filling.

Origin:
Native to the Mediterranean region. Distributed in North-west India, Rajasthan, and Peninsular India.

Action:
Anti-inflammatory, deobstruent to liver and spleen, diuretic, anthelmintic, vasoconstrictive.
Bark—given in splenic, renal and hepatic complaints.
Juice of leaves and fruits—anticystic, bactericidal and fungicidal.
Dried flower buds— used in scurvy.

1) ALONSO, Jorge R. Tratado de fitomedicina : bases clínicas y farmacológicas. Buenos Aires : ISIS, 1998, p. 230.

2) Inocencio, Cristina, et al. AFLP fingerprinting in Capparis subgenus Capparis related to the commercial sources of capers.  Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution. 2005, vol.52, nº2, p.137-144.

3) Boga, Carla, et al. On the antibacterial activity of roots of Capparis spinosa L.  Natural Product Research. 2011, vol.25, nº4, p.417-421.

4) Zhou, Hai-Feng. Anti-inflammatory Effects of Caper (Capparis spinosa L.) Fruit Aqueous Extract and the Isolation of Main Phytochemicals. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 2010, vol.58, nº24, p.12717-12721.

5) Yang, Tao, et al. A new antioxidant compound from Capparis spinosa. Pharmaceutical Biology (London, United Kingdom). 2010, vol.48, nº5, p.589-594.

6) Khare, C.P./ Indian Medicinal Plants. -- Nueva Dheli: Springer, 2007 . - p. 836.