INVESTIGADORES
ISLA Maria Ines
artículos
Título:
Plant species of extreme environments from northwest Argentine: its potential biotechnological applications
Autor/es:
CUELLO ANA S., ZAMPINI IRIS C. & ISLA MARÍA I.
Revista:
BOLETíN LATINOAMERICANO Y DEL CARIBE DE PLANTAS MEDICINALES Y AROMáTICAS
Editorial:
SOC FITOQUIMICA LATINOAMERICANA
Referencias:
Lugar: --; Año: 2007 vol. 6 p. 389 - 390
ISSN:
0717-7917
Resumen:
ABSTRACT The plants that live in extreme ecosystems defend themselves through a wide array of constitutive and induced defence mechanisms. These genetic resources are a key source of natural products of biotechnological importance. In this context, we developed a research program to screen the plant resources of the Argentine Puna, to determine the biological activities and chemical nature of the compounds implicated in UVR resistance and to study their application in the pharmaceutical, cosmetic and food industries. In botanical screenings at different levels between 3300 to 4800 m a.s.l. 17 species were collected, some of them with ethnomedicinal uses. Species with large altitudinal range were selected. Preliminary phytochemical and biological studies (antioxidant/antibacterial/antifungal activity and xanthine oxidase inhibitory activity)  showed that species of Parastrephia, Baccharis y Fabiana are promising to biotechnological uses.