Parastrephia lucida Meyen (Cabrera)

ISLA MARÍA I,; ZAMPINI IC; CUELLO S.

Medicinal, Aromatic Plants of World, Vol. 7, Ákos Máthé and Arnaldo Bandoni (Eds): Medicinal and Aromatic Plants of South America Vol. 2

Springer

Año: 2021; p. 399 - 410

Parastrephia lucida, known as ?romero?, ?tola? o ?t?hola?, ?chachakoa?,?tola de río?, ?tola de agua?, is a medicinal plant found in large areas in the semi-aridPuna of Argentina, Chile, Bolivia and Peru. It is part of the landscape called ?tolar?, with other species of Parastrephia, Baccharis, and Fabiana. The ?tolares?have been a very important fuel source and sometimes the only one available.Currently its use as firewood is limited for greater access. Although its resources areprotected by both legal and police protection measures, still it is occasionally usedas firewood. P. lucida is a plant species resistant to cold, high ultraviolet radiation,drought and salinity. Since ancient times, P. lucida is widely used as medicine bythe local communities of the Puna region, mainly for dislocations, traumatism, pain,as anti-inflammatory, febrifuge, antibiotic, acaricide, among others. Progress hasbeen made in the scientific validation of its medicinal properties and in the knowledgeof the chemistry of this plant, demonstrating that hydroalcoholic extracts couldbe used as antioxidants, anti-inflammatory, potent antibiotics, and acaricide.Furthermore, the infusion showed potent antioxidant capacity. No toxic, mutagenicnor pro-mutagenic effects were described to P. lucida. Although in vivo studieswould be necessary to fully demonstrate the safety of the extracts, prolonged traditionaluse by local communities would support their safety to be ingested or usedlocally. The use of native plant species from South America as an alternative to morecommon and commercial plant species would have a positive impact on local communities?economies.