South American plants in folk medicine: Chilean and Patagonian cases.

Abstract

Abstract In this chapter we disclose the phytochemical studies performed on Chilean and Patagonian plants that have been used for years by the indigenous population in folk medicine. The medicinal uses of these plants are described in some detail. Furthermore, bioassay results from plant extracts and some isolated and identified compounds are presented. The rich flora of the vast and sometimes interrupted Chilean territory is a natural fountain of particular metabolites, which might explain the therapeutic use of these plants in folk medicine. From the arid desert of the northern territory, through the temperate and cold forests, ending in the frozen and windy Patagonian region, these metabolites are seen as a plant response to the particular and extremely different environmental conditions found in this long and narrow piece of land, in the southern-most part of the world.