Study of the potential value of Ilex affinis as a novel source for the food and pharmaceutical industries

DALTON RAFFERTY AMY; COGOI, LAURA; MARTINO, RENZO; ANESINI CLAUDIA; FILIP, ROSANA

Boston

Congreso; World biotechnology congress 2013; 2013

Ilex paraguariensis St. Hilaire (Aquifoliaceae), a plant which grows naturally in NE Argentina, Uruguay, SE Brazil and E Paraguay, is processed industrially to produce ?Yerba Mate" and used in South America as a tea-like beverage. It is exported to the US, Europe and Asia as vegetal drug or extracts used in complementary and alternative medicine and in formulations for functional foods. Ilex affinis Gardner grows in the same habitat and is used as substitute or adulterant of I. paraguariensis. This species has never been investigated before. The objective of this work was to assess the phytochemical composition of this species and to determine the pharmacological activity, according with the major compounds present in it. Aqueous extracts were prepared according to the traditional use.The results showed small quantities of methylxanthines (caffeine and theobromine) but a considerable amount of polyphenols, especially chlorogenic acid and isochlorogenic acid which showed, in previous work, antiproliferative activity, also assayed in this species upon a lymphoma cell line.The results obtained in this work suggest the potential value of I. affinis for the development of novel products in the food and pharmaceutical industries.