Aspectos de la comercialización y control de calidad de las plantas medicinales más vendidas en una comunidad urbana del NO de la Patagonia Argentina

CUASSOLO, F.; LADIO, A.; EZCURRA, C.

BOLETíN LATINOAMERICANO Y DEL CARIBE DE PLANTAS MEDICINALES Y AROMáTICAS

SOC FITOQUIMICA LATINOAMERICANA

Año: 2009 vol. 9 p. 166 - 176

0717-7917

In the last decades there has been an increase in the consumption of medicinal plants worldwide. In Argentina, this increase coincides with an inefficient action of the control organisms. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to dispensers of medicinal plants in 13 selling sites from Bariloche in order to investigate general aspects of marketing. In total 64 samples were obtained for the most traded species in the city, these were analyzed by morphological and micrographic methods, determining the degree of adulteration. The monoherbs are marketed mainly by their common name, packed in transparent cellophane bags, and the materials are mostly fragmented. About 30% of the samples proved adulteration, the main element adulterant were grasses. We conclude that in Bariloche, the quality control agencies are inefficient, which can lead to health problems for people and discredit to phyto-medicine.