Culcitium canescens Humb. & Bonpl. (asteraceae): Una revisión etnobotánica, etnofarmacológica y fitoquímica

Abstract

Background: The use of plants for therapeutic purposes is a common practice in Peru and the world; however, there is a poor ethnobotanical, ethnopharmacological and toxicological information´s systematization, especially if the plant is a native species from a country where there is an inadequate sanity control. Culcitium canescens is a native plant from high Andean areas, widely used for its medicinal properties. This plant has five scientific names and 17 vernacular names; situation that increases the risk of confusion with other plants, even more if there are not orderly and systematized source of information. Therefore, this review aims to gather, order and analyze relevant information of all aspects involved in phytotherapy. Methods: Information available in Scopus, ScienceDirect, PubMed and the CONCYTEC virtual library was analyzed. In addition, to exhaust the search for available information, Google Scholar was used. The search terms were “Culcitium canescens”, “Senecio canescens” or “vira vira”. Results: Valuable information was obtained, framed in ethnobotanical, ethnopharmacological and phytoconstituent aspects; however, there are still scientific gaps that prevent knowing, with certainly, the safety and efficacy of its use. Conclusions: Information available of Culcitium canescens in the databases was collected and analyzed; structuring them in botanical, synonymy, ethnobotanical, ethnopharmacological and phytochemical aspects. Finally, due to the lack of toxicological information and efficacy in people, future researches should focus on these issues and thus contribute with validated information for the correct and safe use of the medicinal plant. Keywords: Senecio canescens; Culcitium rufescens; Asteraceae; vira vira; huira huira; respiratory diseases; medicinal plants; phytotherapy; ethnobotany; ethnopharmacology.