CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

Historically, plants have been the major source of active compounds for the pharmaceutical industry. Today, plant extracts and its active principles represent 25% of the annual commercialized drugs in the United States (Kinghorn and Seo, 1996, Buttler 2004, Prakash 11 Rout et al., 2009, Qurishi et al., 2010). Moreover, the World Health Organization has estimated that more than the 80% of the population in developing countries relies for their health care on traditional medicines mostly from plant origin (Canter et al., 2005). The plant active principles are, in general, a product of the plant secondary metabolism; they are low-molecular-weight compounds that in general participate in defence mechanisms against diseases (phytoalexins) or as attractants for pollinator insects (pigments and fragrances) (Canter et al., 2005). The production of each group of secondary metabolites, as counterpart of primary metabolites, is in general restricted to a limited number of species, and they usually are organ-specific and furthermore, tissue-specific. According to their chemical properties, secondary metabolites could be classified in three main groups: a) terpenes, b) phenols and c) alkaloids. Terpenes and terpenoids are the primary constituents of the essential oils, widely used as natural flavour additives for food and fragrances. Phenols are a class of chemical compounds consisting of a hydroxyl group directly bonded to an aromatic hydrocarbon group that seem to be universally distributed in plants. They are essential for the growth and reproduction of plants, and are produced as a response for defending injured plants against pathogens. Finally, alkaloids are characterized for being alkaline nitrogenated organic compounds, derived from aminoacids, generally insoluble in water and soluble in alcohol, ether, chloroform, etc. Among the alkaloids, those derived from tropane have received particular attention for their properties. 1.2 Tropane