Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
Marta A. Vattuone,* José R. Soberón, Melina A. Sgariglia,
Emma N. Quiroga and Diego A. Sampietro
LABIFITO, Facultad de Bioquímica, Química y Farmacia,
Universidad Nacional de Tucumán, Argentina
12.1
Introduction
against asthma, and as an anti-inflammatory
and anti-tumoural agent, among others
(Ratera and Ratera, 1980; Toursarkissian,
1980). Besides the traditional medicinal uses
of
Z. punctata
, the plant is also employed as
a fuel, in carpentry, in the construction of
houses and in the manufacture of toys.
Zuccagnia punctata
Cav. (Fabaceae,
Caesalpinioideae) is a monotypic endemic
species that spontaneously grows in the arid
and semi-arid regions of central and north-
western Argentina, from the Mendoza to Jujuy
Provinces. The vernacular names of this
shrub are 'Jarilla macho', 'Puspus', 'Laca',
'Jarilla pispito' and 'Jarilla de la Puna'. This
species together with other Leguminosae,
Zygophyllaceae and Bromeliaceae are present
in the phytogeographic province of 'Monte'
in Argentina (Del Vitto
et al
., 1997; Ulibarri,
1999, 2005).
Z. punctata
is a shrub of 1-5 m
in height, is very aromatic because of a high
content of resins in the foliage and grows in
rocky and/or rubbly soils (Burkart, 1952).
12.3
Phytochemistry
The first phytochemical studies on the
composition of methanol extracts of aerial
parts (leaves and twigs) of
Z. punctata,
erroneously referred to as
Larrea nitida
,
resulted in the isolation of two chalcones,
2¢,4¢-dihydroxychalcone and 2¢,4¢-
dihydroxy-3¢-methoxy-chalcone (Fig. 12.1),
and two flavanones, 7-hydroxyflavanone and
7-hydroxy-8-methoxyflavanone (Fig. 12.2)
(Pederiva
et al
., 1975). Recently, a new chal-
cone, 2¢,6¢-dihydroxy-4¢-methoxychalcone, was
isolated from aerial parts of the plant
(Jimenez
et al
., 2011) (Fig. 12.1).
3,7-Dihydroxyflavone and 3,7-dihydroxy-
8-methoxyflavone were reported from leaf
resin (Pederiva and Giordano, 1984). Of
these, 3,7-dihydroxy-8-methoxyflavone was
12.2
Use in Traditional Medicine
Popular medicinal usage of
Z. punctata
is
part of the indigenous traditional knowledge
from north-western Argentina. This plant is
used as a rubefacient, a foot antiseptic,
against
bacterial
and
fungal
infections,
* E-mail: mvattuone@fbqf.unt.edu.ar
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