**Abstract**

The Argentine flora comprises more than 10,000 species, and many of them have been recorded as having medicinal, antimicrobial, and nutraceutical uses in humans as well as veterinary uses. In this chapter, native species/populations from the north of Argentina have been identified, selected, and characterized using morphological, chemical, and molecular techniques. *Bauhinia forficata* subsp. *pruinosa* was found to have anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic, diuretic, and analgesic activity and *Senna spectabilis* var. *spectabilis* has been found to have antibacterial, antibiofilm, antifungal, and antioxidant properties. The characterization and conservation of the native germplasm will allow us to propose future protocols of adaptation and technological processes to improve the quality of life in the rural areas and sustainable growth. This process will be achieved through a future integral and rational use that contemplates the conservation of the wild populations and their habitat. Thus, new resources will be generated, and the native flora of the country will gain value, strengthening the regional and territorial development of the agricultural and agroindustrial system. In addition, the domestication practices oriented to an integral management of the crop without extraction of the biological resource from the natural habitat minimize the impact of ecosystem degradation by overexploitation associated with landscape fragmentation.

**Keywords:** native species, medicinal, germplasm selection, conservation, propagation

### **1. Introduction**

Leguminosae (Fabaceae) with close to 770 genera and ca. 20,000 species is the third-largest angiosperm family after Asteraceae and Orchidaceae [1]. It has a global distribution and high ecological and economic importance. Along with Poaceae (the grass family), Leguminosae is the most important plant family in the production of food for humans and livestock, as well as in the production of industrial products. The total world exports of pulses (crops harvested for their dry seeds) have more than doubled between 1990 and 2012, expanding from 6.6 to 13.4 million tons, and in 2012, the value of pulse exports was estimated at US\$ 9.5 billion (Food and Agriculture Organization [FAO]: http://www.fao.org/3/a-i5389e.pdf). The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations General Assembly

designated 2016 as the International Year of Pulses to promote awareness of their nutritional benefits, importance in food security, and sustainable agriculture, and mitigate biodiversity loss and climate change http://www.fao.org/pulses-2016/en/. Meanwhile, from now on, 10 February will mark World Pulses Day, keeping alive the positive momentum surrounding these healthy, nutritious, protein-rich, and nitrogen-fixing legumes after FAO's successful 2016 International Year of Pulses Campaign. Growing pulses contributes to sustainable crop production: http://www. fao.org/news/story/en/item/1175295/icode/ and the legumes crops providing highly nutritious sources of protein and micronutrients that can greatly benefit health and livelihoods. This family is also uniquely important as fodder and green manure in both temperate and tropical regions and is used for their wood, tannins, oils, and resins, in the manufacture of varnishes, paints, dyes, and medicines, and in the horticultural trade. It has cosmopolitan in distribution, representing important ecological constituents in almost all biomes across the globe and occurs in even the most extreme habitats [2, 3]. The biomes represent significant elements in terms of species diversity and abundance, in lowland wet tropical forests in Africa, South America, and Asia [4], and they dominate dry forests and savannas throughout the tropics [5] and also occur in Mediterranean, desert, and temperate regions, up to high latitudes and at high elevations [6].

This high species richness is reflected in great morphological and chemical diversity, from which multiple uses are derived [7], that is, alkaloids, proanthocyanidins, and flavonoids can be present; pterocarpans are found only in legumes and they have significant antimicrobial, anticancerous, antiinflammatory, and antimalarial report activities [8]. There are also many legumes containing toxic and indigestible substances, which may be removed through various processing methods.

In America, the cultivation of Leguminosae dates from prehistoric times [9] and it has a great ethnobotanical importance in medicinal uses [10, 11].

Medicinal evaluation has indicated the importance of the environment as an important factor in the selection of useful resources by human populations [12].

In South America, there are reports of the use of Leguminosae species with different therapeutic activities [13–17].

In the South of South America, Argentina conserves ex situ collections of germplasm banks in the National Institute of Agricultural Technology (INTA), provincial banks, national universities, and the National Research Council (CONICET). Most of the extra INTA collections hold native species to protect biodiversity from anthropogenic impact. Anthropogenic activity has accentuated the degradation of natural habitats, environmental changes, landscape fragmentation, pollution, the expansion of the agricultural frontier, and over-exploitation. The Argentine Flora Catalog (http://www2.darwin.edu.ar/Proyectos/FloraArgentina/fa.htm) has records of more than 10,000 species; many of them have been recorded as having medicinal, antimicrobial, and nutraceutical properties, as well as veterinary uses. The available information has been obtained mainly from ethnobotanical, chemical, and biochemical studies; however, up to now, the chemical compound to obtain phytopharmaceutical products has been recorded only in a few species, and the promising biotypes have not been selected or adapted as new crops; therefore, there is no material available to develop medicinal products that ensure therapeutic efficacy.

The project that initiated the bioprospecting of new medicinal bioactive compounds and agrochemical products in Argentina was conducted at the Institute of Biological Resources (IRB), Natural Resources Research Center (CIRN), INTA, between 1993 and 2003. The proposal was based on national and international legislation (Argentina Constitution: 1994, and Convention on Biological Diversity, 1993, ratified in 1994) and was implemented through the agreement between INTA and University of Arizona, USA (Bioactive Agents from Dryland Plants

**9**

*Novel Therapeutic Uses of Legume Crops in Southern South America*

of Latin America, INTA-Argentina/University of Arizona-USA, Grant UO1

TW00316 National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Science Foundation (NSF), U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID): International Cooperative Biodiversity Group (ICBG), 1993–2003). That evaluation allowed us to obtain new information on chemical and biochemical compounds of native species used in folk medicine [18, 19]. However, no species genotype or ecotype was introduced as a

Within the frame of the project, and based on morphological, chemical, and molecular techniques (including the development of expression libraries), native species/populations were identified, selected, and characterized, via management in the natural habitat (*in situ*) and introduction in cultivation (*ex situ*). In addition, with the aim of conserving the identified biotypes, preservation was undertaken in the Germplasm Bank IRB, CIRN-INTA *ex-situ*), with subsequent introduction to cultivation in the different ecoregions where they grow. The characterization and conservation of the native germplasm will allow us to propose technological processes for the improvement of the quality of life in the rural territories; it will also promote sustainable growth through a future integral and rational use that contemplates the conservation of the wild populations and their habitat. In 2010 at the IRB, CIRN-INTA, we started the development of species with medicinal potential, each of them of regional importance in the central and northern regions of Argentina. Based on the results obtained, innovative lines (new-generation domestication) will

a.*Bauhinia forficata* Link. subsp. *pruinosa* (Vog.) Fortunato & Wunderlin "cow's hoof, cow's paw, Brazilian orchid tree, unha de boi or pata de vaca: Brazil".

b.*Senna spectabilis* (DC.) H.S. Irwin & Barneby var. *spectabilis* "spectacular cassia, mhomba, carnaval, calceolaria shower, cassia, yellow shower, and

*Bauhinia forficata* subsp. *pruinosa* (=BFP): native to southern and eastern Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Argentina. In Argentina, it is distributed in the northeastern region, and through its introduction as ornamental, it has been naturalized also in the central and northwest regions. It is a deciduous to semi-evergreen tree up to 8 m tall, with twisted ascending branches that drop at the ends, an often-leaning trunk, and large, bilobed, dark green leaves; flowers are white, 8–13 cm in diameter, solitary, or arranged in axillary clusters; they bloom almost all summer. Fruits are dehiscent legumes with several flattened, oval, bright, and blackish seeds. It is used as ornamental and the leaves and young stems are consumed in infusions mainly as antidiabetic or hypoglycemic agent [20–25]. Anti-inflammatory, diuretic, and analgesic activities have also been reported in this species [26, 27]. In Southern South America, 10 species of *Bauhinia* are popularly used mainly to regulate glucose and lipids metabolism, but

also for digestive, kidney, and urinary disturbances, for example, [28–31].

although some contradictory evidence has been found [26, 32].

BFP has potential for the treatment of Diabetes *mellitus*. Pharmacological studies performed on different plant extracts or purified flavonoids in normoglycemic and hyperglycemic models in vivo in general have confirmed the hypoglycemic activity,

It is important to note that the species is unclearly identified in most assays (it is published as *B. forficata* or *B. candicans*, present synonym of BFP); as a result, flavonoid profiles and some tested activities present differences that should be

Pau-deovelha, São-joão, Parica: Brazil".

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.85659*

phytopharmaceutical product [19].

be included.

**2. Propagation**

#### *Novel Therapeutic Uses of Legume Crops in Southern South America DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.85659*

of Latin America, INTA-Argentina/University of Arizona-USA, Grant UO1 TW00316 National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Science Foundation (NSF), U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID): International Cooperative Biodiversity Group (ICBG), 1993–2003). That evaluation allowed us to obtain new information on chemical and biochemical compounds of native species used in folk medicine [18, 19]. However, no species genotype or ecotype was introduced as a phytopharmaceutical product [19].

Within the frame of the project, and based on morphological, chemical, and molecular techniques (including the development of expression libraries), native species/populations were identified, selected, and characterized, via management in the natural habitat (*in situ*) and introduction in cultivation (*ex situ*). In addition, with the aim of conserving the identified biotypes, preservation was undertaken in the Germplasm Bank IRB, CIRN-INTA *ex-situ*), with subsequent introduction to cultivation in the different ecoregions where they grow. The characterization and conservation of the native germplasm will allow us to propose technological processes for the improvement of the quality of life in the rural territories; it will also promote sustainable growth through a future integral and rational use that contemplates the conservation of the wild populations and their habitat. In 2010 at the IRB, CIRN-INTA, we started the development of species with medicinal potential, each of them of regional importance in the central and northern regions of Argentina. Based on the results obtained, innovative lines (new-generation domestication) will be included.

