Chemical Profiling, Antioxidant, Anticholinesterase, and Antiprotozoal Potentials of Artemisia copa Phil. (Asteraceae).

Artemisia copa Phil. (Asteraceae) (known as copa-copa) is a native species of Chile used as an infusion in traditional medicine by Atacameños people in the Altiplano, highlands of northern Chile. In this research, we have investigated for the first time the cholinesterase inhibition potential against acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE), and the chemical profiling of the infusions prepared from the aerial parts of A. copa by high resolution spectrometry. In addition, total phenolic, total flavonoid content, antioxidant (DPPH, FRAP, and ORAC) and antiprozoal activity were tested. Artemisia copa showed good inhibitory activity against AChE and BChE (3.92 ± 0.08 µg/ml and 44.13 ± 0.10 µg/ml). The infusion displayed a total phenolics content of 155.6 ± 2.9 mg of gallic acid equivalents/g and total flavonoid content of 5.5 ± 0.2 mg quercetin equivalents/g. Additionally, trypanocidal activity against Trypanosoma cruzi was found (LD50 of 131.8 µg/ml). Forty-seven metabolites were detected in the infusion of A. copa including several phenolic acids and flavonoids which were rapidly identified using ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography orbitrap mass spectrometry analysis (UHPLC-Orbitrap-MS) for chemical profiling. The major compounds identified in the infusions were studied by molecular docking against AChE and BChE. The UHPLC-MS fingerprints generated can be also used for the authentication of these endemic species. These findings reveal that A. copa infusions can be used as beverages with protective effects.

Absence of Cyanotoxins in Llayta, Edible Nostocaceae Colonies from the Andes Highlands.

Edible Llayta are cyanobacterial colonies consumed in the Andes highlands. Llayta and four isolated cyanobacteria strains were tested for cyanotoxins (microcystin, nodularin, cylindrospermopsin, saxitoxin and ß-N-methylamino-L-alanine-BMAA) using molecular and chemical methods. All isolates were free of target genes involved in toxin biosynthesis. Only DNA from Llayta amplified the mcyE gene. Presence of microcystin-LR and BMAA in Llayta extracts was discarded by LC/MS analyses. The analysed Llayta colonies have an incomplete microcystin biosynthetic pathway and are a safe food ingredient.

A Microethnographic and Ethnobotanical Approach to Llayta Consumption Among Andes Feeding Practices.

Llayta is a dietary supplement that has been used by rural communities in Perú and northern Chile since pre-Columbian days. Llayta is the biomass of colonies of a Nostoc cyanobacterium grown in wetlands of the Andean highlands, harvested, sun-dried and sold as an ingredient for human consumption. The biomass has a substantial content of essential amino acids (58% of total amino acids) and polyunsaturated fatty acids (33% total fatty acids). This ancestral practice is being lost and the causes were investigated by an ethnographic approach to register the social representations of Llayta, to document how this Andean feeding practice is perceived and how much the community knows about Llayta. Only 37% of the participants (mostly adults) have had a direct experience with Llayta; other participants (mostly children) did not have any knowledge about it. These social responses reflect anthropological and cultural tensions associated with a lack of knowledge on Andean algae, sites where to find Llayta, where it is commercialized, how it is cooked and on its nutritional benefits. The loss of this ancestral feeding practice, mostly in northern Chile, is probably associated with cultural changes, migration of the rural communities, and very limited access to the available information. We propose that Llayta consumption can be revitalized by developing appropriate educational strategies and investigating potential new food derivatives based on the biomass from the isolated Llayta cyanobacterium.