Argemone subsiformis (Papaveraceae), native species of ethnomedical interest: its anatomy and application in the pharmacobotanic quality control.

CUELLAR, N.; C. LUJAN & M.T. COSA

Rosario

Congreso; 2º Reunión Internacional de Ciencias Farmacéuticas.; 2012

RISIFA

Introduction Argemone subfusiformis G.B. Ownbey, " cardo santo" or " cardo amarillo" ("saint thistle " or "yellow thistle") is a native species of medical interest. It is believed that all its organs have many ethnomedical properties. The WHO (WHO 2002-2005) specifies that herbs or its products, traditionally guaranteed, can be considered as a herbal medicine, that is why a quality guarantee is required because in the last years they are increasingly being sold and consequently, falsifications can be expected. Anatomy studies are an efficient tool for the identification of the species in a commercial sample (1), specially when this material is sterile or its grinding degree makes it impossible to recognize the diagnostic parameters of the vegetal drug. Due to the fact that the information on this species anatomy is scarce (2), the goals were to compare the vegetative and reproductive structures between two different fields (Córdoba and Jujuy), stressing on their adaptive features and also to contribute to the identification of native species with possible pharmacological value as well as to obtain taxonomic data with direct application on botanical and sanitary-hygienic quality control. Lastly, and contributing to the ethno botanic field, knowledge and ethno medical usages on A. subfusiformis in different geographic fields were compared. Material and Methods - Plants with flowers and fruits from Córdoba and Jujuy were collected. - Permanent and temporary preparations were made following classic techniques and histo chemic tests with specific colorings were made. - Twelve samples of different stores were compared (6 of each place) and their botanic and sanitary-hygienic quality control was performed. -Medical ethno botanic knowledge was compared by open surveys (3) Results - Both colonies showed similar vegetative and reproductive structures; articulate anastomosed laticiphers are distributed on all organs; the colonies were different as regards stomatic index and frequency of epidermic cells. - Analysis of 12 samples of different herb factories and the analysis of reports of qualified informers from Jujuy and Córdoba showed that 100% of the samples had mistakes in the labeling. It also showed that 90% were inadequately pure and that 91% were authentic. -Another conclusion was that it is a species frequently used in domestic medicine and that it is widely demanded. Discussion and Conclusions Previous knowledge and knowledge obtained by this work show that histologic studies are an efficient tool when performing quality control. It was also proved that ignorance on botanic nomenclature and on safety regulations is widely spread and that A. subfusiformis is a relevant herbal resource in domestic and traditional medicine, in both fields. Interdisciplinary investigations on basic and applied botanic will allow to elucidate the use of medical herbs more precisely and safely as well as to discover new procurement ways and origin.