Muehlenbeckia volcanica (Benth.) endl.: Review of a peruvian polygonaceae of scientific interest

Abstract

Background: Muehlenbeckia volcanica is a medicinal plant used popularly for its anti-inflammatory and antiallergic properties, however, there is not enough scientific information about these properties. Being a species recommended by the Seguro Social de Salud del Peru (EsSalud), it is important to unify the knowledge reported in both databases of scientific articles and repositories of work carried out in Peruvian universities, in order to enrich knowledge about this plant species and direct future research. Methods: Information concerning to specie as the other species of the same genus from databases such as Scopus, ScienceDirect, Scielo, PubMed and GoogleScholar was selected, search conducted with the term Muehlenbeckia volcanica and Muehlenbeckia. Results: In the search carried out in the Scopus database, with the term Muehlenbeckia volcanica, only three scientific articles were found, in ScienceDirect six, Scielo only one and in databases such as PubMed there is no report. Although there is information about its anti-inflammatory activity, there is no identification of active components of scientific relevance, as well as information that supports other pharmacological activities such as antimicrobial, antiviral, hypoglycemic and antioxidant. Conclusions: Toxicity studies are needed to provide greater sustenance for its safe use in both adults and minors, making it clear that, although it is true that it is a plant species, natural products are not exempt from have side effects due to improper use.