Emanations Volume 4

The use of plant latexes in traditional medicine in the Peruvian Amazon is widespread. The purpose of this study was two-fold: (1) to compare the medicinal uses of latexes among people of the Peruvian Amazon and (2) to compare the latexes’ biochemical properties through preliminary bioassay and chemical analysis. Six species of plants were studied from the Moraceae family. These species include: Artocarpus altilis (“Pan de Árbol”), Brosimum acutifolium (“Mururé”), Ficus insipida (“Doctor Ojé”), Maclura tinctoria (“Insira”), Maquira coriacea (“Capinurí”), and Pseudolmedia laevis (“Huayra caspi”). Structured interviews about the medicinal use of latexes were conducted with informants from the Yarapa River villages of Jaldar and Jerusalen and the medicinal plants marketplace in Belén, Iquitos. A wide range of uses for the latexes of these plants was reported, including treatments for rheumatism, toothaches, dislocations, hernias, backaches, uterus infections, intestinal worms, herpes, tumors, and many other ailments. The latexes of all six species were then collected and extracted in 96% ethanol. A preliminary bioactivity survey of the extracts was conducted using cytotoxicity assays against brine shrimp and anti-microbial disk diffusion assays against the gram-positive bacteria Bacillus cereus, the gram-negative Pseudomonas aeruginosa and the yeast Candida albicans. Bioassays revealed anti-fungal activity in A. altilis and slight cytotoxicity in B. acutifolium, F. inspida, M. tincotria, and M. coriacea. None of the extracts exhibited anti-bacterial activity. Separation of the extracts was acheived using thin-layer chromatography (TLC) and compounds were visualized using iodine crystals, UV light, and the free radical 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH). TLC analysis revealed widely varied chemistries, but failed to reveal any chemical similarities between the plants, complimenting the widely varied uses of the latexes. Reaction with DPPH revealed antioxidant compounds in all the extracts.