Parámetros farmacobotánicos para el control de calidad de Heteropterys glabra (Malpighiaceae)

Abstract

Anconatani, Leonardo M.; Beatriz G. Varela; Rafael A. Ricco; Marcelo L. Wagner. 2016. “Pharmacobotany parameters for quality control of Heteropterys glabra (Mal- pighiaceae)”. Lilloa 53 (2). Heteropterys glabra Hook & Arn. (Malpighiaceae) (“tilo”) is a spe- cies mainly used as a sedative in folk medicine from north-western Argentina and Paraguay. The most common way to obtain it is in local markets in packages with whole material or in pieces, or through cultivated or wild plants. Information and studies about this species are scarce; in spite of its widespread use in the area. Therefore, this study aims to provide micrographic characters that allow identifying leaves, flowers, and fruits of this species and create elements of pharmacobotanical analysis for the quality control of the plant drug. Ac- cording to the results obtained, it is possible to distinguish leaves by the limited presence of eglandular unicellular and branched trichomes of malpighiaceous type and the presence of glands and druses of calcium oxalate of different sizes. The flower, instead, is characterized by the abundant number of malpighiaceous trichomes. Lastly, the fruit (samara) shows con- sistent quantities of malpighiaceous trichomes, parenchyma braciform cells belonging to the wing region, and sclereids corresponding to the lower part of pericarp. Micrographic charac- ters described are of great use to characterize the species studied.