Essential Oils of Medicinal Plants from Northern Peru: Traditional and Scientific Knowledge

Ganoza-Yupanqui M.L.; Suárez-Rebaza L.A.; Venegas-Casanova E.A.; Ruiz-Reyes S.G.; de Albuquerque R.D.D.G.; Ganoza-Suárez M.M. · Essential Oils: Contributions to the Chemical-Biological Knowledge (2023) · DOI: 10.1201/9781003226345-5

Resumen

Aromatic medicinal plants in Northern Peru are widely used in a popular way in traditional medicine. Its knowledge comes from ancient generations through its expert connoisseurs, who had a broad notion of its properties, applying them properly for the prevention and treatment of various diseases. Essential oils differ from the other metabolites of medicinal plants due to their physical properties, such as density, viscosity, refractive index and optical activity. This chapter presents various medicinal species found in northern Peru that are characterized by the production of essential oils, which in turn are related to the pharmacological activity of each species. The ethnomedicinal use for all plants is presented, followed by the chemical data of the essential oil, which often proved to be peculiar when compared with the chemical characterization of the same oils collected in different regions or countries. Finally, the pharmacological studies carried out with the essential oils of each species described in this chapter are presented.

Instituciones: Universidad Nacional de Trujillo