Paramela

Botanical origin and traditional use

In Argentina and Chile, the leaves and young stems of Paramela are used in traditional health care for rheumatic pains, colds, digestive disorders and respiratory congestion.

Botanical classification

Adesmia boronioides Hook.f. is an accepted species name, placed in the order Fabales, family Fabaceae and genus Adesmia.

The genus Adesmia

The species of the genus range across southern South America, from Peru and southeastern Brazil to Argentina and Chile. The genus was recently assigned to the informal monophyletic Adesmia clade within the Dalbergieae.

Chemistry

The secretion of the plant consists of essential oil and bisnorsesquiterpenes described as new structures. In a resinous exudate of the aerial parts, esquel-6-en-9-one made up 14.25% and esquel-7-en-9-one 5.86%, with veratric acid at 2.59%. These three were the effective antibacterial compounds of the exudate. The exudate's antibacterial activity was evaluated against four phytopathogenic bacteria, with minimum inhibitory concentrations ranging from 16 to 128 μg/mL. The four bacteria were Pectobacterium carotovorum subsp. carotovora, Erwinia amylovora, Bacillus subtilis and Pseudomonas syringae, and the minimum bactericidal concentrations ranged from 32 to 256 μg/mL.

Essential oil and biological activity

The essential oil of paramela has been obtained by steam distillation and its composition analysed by gas chromatography with mass spectrometry. The essential oil and the polar fractions (methanol and aqueous extract) of the aerial parts were also tested in vitro, at 15 and 50 μg/mL, for their effects on the COX and 5-LOX pathways of eicosanoid generation.

Infusions

Infusions of the aerial parts of A. boronioides and of five other native Patagonian plants were investigated for their nutraceutical properties. The infusions were characterized by antioxidant activity, phenolic and flavonoid content, profile of phenolic compounds, general toxicity and cytotoxicity on two human cell lines, T84 (derived from colon cancer) and HTR8/SVneo (not derived from cancer). Twenty-nine compounds, mainly phenolic acids and flavonoids, were identified across the six plants. The infusions showed anticancer potential through antiproliferative activity on human cancer cell lines, and a moderate consumption is suggested.

Associated insects

A new aphid species, Uroleucon nahuelhuapense, was described from wingless, live-bearing females collected on A. boronioides in a locality of Neuquén province, Argentina.

Harvest management

No studies on harvest management existed for this species before a four-year trial on a natural population, in which plants received light, medium or heavy pruning and were assessed for biomass and for the yield and quality of their essential oil. Medium pruning gave the greatest amount of biomass in every year, although the increase in production up to the third harvest was followed by a marked decrease. The results inform the design of sustainable harvesting protocols and ways to improve biomass and essential oil yields from wild populations.

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