Genus Baccharis

Characteristic constituents from the Baccharis genus, one member of the Compositae, are the neo-clerodane type diterpenes. For example, the aerial parts of B. trinervis, a representative of which is used in South American folk medicine, furnished 24 neo-clerodane type diterpenes, many of them new, e.g., methyltrineracetal, Fig. (1) and epi-methyltrineracetal, Fig. (2) [19],... 

The most widespread diterpenes reported in Baccharis genus are clerodanes, but labdane- and kaurane-type, and to a lesser extent beyerane-type diterpenoids have also been isolated. The investigation of ten Baccharis species afforded four new enr-labdane diterpenes from Baccharis oxydonta... 

Reports on the sesquiterpene composition of Baccharis genus are recorded in the literature. From some representatives of this genus growing in Texas and Mexico, sesquiterpene hydrocarbons, such as germacrane D and caryophyllenepoxide were isolated [34], From Baccharis dracunculifolia D. C. sesquiterpene hydrocarbons like germacrane D, 8-cadinene,... 

Reports on the triterpene composition of Baccharis genus are recorded in the literature. Baccharis oxide, Fig. (21) is a common and unique triterpene found in many Baccharis species, such as Baccharis halimifolia L. [54] and B. salicifolia [55], The NMR spectra of this compound was assigned ambiguously [56], but recently Nurnberg et al. [57] established the total NMR chemical shift assignments of baccharis oxide. 

The most widespread flavonoids reported in the Baccharis genus are flavones, but flavonols and flavanones have also been isolated. For example, Kupchan and Baverschmidt [74] reported the isolation and identification of two methylated flavonols, 3,4 -dimethoxy-3 ,5,7-trihydroxyflavone, Fig. (43) and centaureidin, Fig. (44) from B. sarolhroides. 

Reports on the coumarin composition from the Baccharis genus are recorded in the literature. For example, two long-chain esters of coumaric acid were isolated from B. myrsinites, a species endemic to the Dominican Republic [26], During a chemosystematic investigation of the terpenic... 

Recently, there has been an increased interest in antimicrobial agents from medicinal plants which have been used in folk medicine. A review of the literature concerning the evaluation of plant extracts of the Baccharis genus and secondary metabolites isolated from them, has revealed that many studies into their antibacterial and antifungal activities have been carried out in recent years. For example, extracts of 46 plants from 15 families, most of them used in folk medicine, have been screened for antibacterial and antifungal activities against Bacillus subtilis, Micrococcus luteus,... 

A large number of compounds, which are typical constituents of the Baccharis genus, were isolated from these species and might be partly or wholly responsible for the antimicrobial effects exhibited by the plants. For example, four compounds, including a flavone, an acetylenic lactone, a... 

However, a saponin mixture, an unusual constituent of Baccharis genus, in which echinocystic acid, Fig. (69) is the major aglycone, has been found to be the main active principle of this plant. 

Several other pharmacological actions have been documented from the Baccharis genus, some of which may be related to their traditional use. In developing countries, acute diarrhoeal disease is the major cause of mortality and morbidity in infants. In an interdisciplinary approach with the emphasis placed on ethnomedical and ethnobotanical studies, 141 plant species used for the treatment of gastrointestinal diseases, especially diarrhoea associated... 

Tortoriello and Aguilar-Santamaria [120] investigated in detail the spasmolytic mechanisms of action of one of these plants, B. serraefolia. The results suggest that the extract does not interact with classical receptors and its effects, at least that produced on smooth muscle, may be due to a probable interference with calcium influx and/or calcium release from an intracellular store. Different chemical compounds, such as clerodane diterpenes and flavonoids, which are typical constituents from the Baccharis genus, have been considered as the active principles of many spasmolytic drugs. A bioassay-monitored fractionation of an extract from B. genistelloides yielded a mixture that blocked the calcium-induced contractions of KCl-depolarized rat portal vein preparations [121], Pharmacological tests of two pure compounds isolated from the mixture revealed a dilactonic clerodane-diterpene, Fig. (70) as the active compound. 

Lonni, A. AS.G., Scarminio, I.S., Silva, L.M.C. Ferreira, D.T. (2005). Numerical Taxonomy Characterization of Baccharis Genus Species by Ultraviolet-Visible Spectrophotometry. Analytical Sciences, Vol 21, pp. 235-239, ISSN 0910-6340. 

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