Peruvian Biodiversity: A Mini Review of Five Plants

Abstract

In this article, five different plant species from the Peruvian biodiversity are briefly revised. These plants are broadly used for traditional medicine purposes, as well as for cosmetic and edible purposes. They are not only commercialized in Peru, the country of their origin, but around the world. The plant species we are going to write about are Uncaria tomentosa/ U. guianensis (uña de gato), Lepidium meyenii (maca), Plukenetia volubilis (sacha inchi) and Smallanthus sonchifolius (yacon).