ABSTRACT
In the rural and indigenous communities of Argentina, medicinal plants play a very important role in the care of people's health. This chapter provides molecular, phytochemical, genetic, and pharmacological evidence to support the traditional indigenous phytotherapy practiced in Argentina. Main phytochemical compounds studied from medicinal plants were essential oils, flavonoids, phenolic acids, and phenols. The chapter validates the medicinal use of plants traditionally used in Argentina. It reviews those plants that have been characterized (chemical, pharmacological, molecular biology, or bioactivity test (antimicrobial or antiparasitic)). The number of medicinal plants related to the ethnobotanical used by native communities from Argentina exceeds 600 species. The indole alkaloids are the main phytochemical founded in the bark, and they exhibited antimalarial activity against Plasmodium falciparum and analgesic activity. Most phytochemical studies conducted in the medicinal species of this family are focused on the analysis of essential oils.
