Minthostachys mollis

Minthostachys mollis
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Lamiaceae
Genus: Minthostachys
Species: M. mollis
Binomial name
Minthostachys mollis
(Kunth) Griseb.

Minthostachys mollis (muña) is a medicinal plant restricted to the South American Andes from Venezuela to Bolivia. It is the most variable and widely distributed species of the genus Minthostachys. It is also known by the names of tipo, tipollo, or poleo.[1]

Medicinal uses

In the indigenous medicine traditions of the Andes, the plant is made into tea and used medicinally as a carminative and aphrodisiac.

Etymology

Its common name "muña" comes from Quechua.

Chemical characteristics

The principal components of essential oil are as follows:

In the flowering tops 19 compounds were identified in the essential oil, predominantly 29% neomenthol, 24% menthone, 20% menthol, and 8% piperitone.[1]

Notes

  1. 1 2 Alkire, Ben (1994). "Tipo,minthostachys mollis (lamiaceae): an ecuadorian mint". Economic Botany 48 (1): 60–64. doi:10.1007/BF02901380.

References


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