Baja California/Mexico

1. Baja California/Mexico • Rachelle Montero • Shawna Hagger • Gabriel Lucero • FarzanaYunus

2. Opuntia Common names- prickly pear cactus, nopal, tuna (fruit) 1 Belongs to the family Cactaceae2 Grows as tree or shrub with usually many branches; can form clumps or mats. 3 Distinctive features- flattened, circular stems; Glochids3

3. Widely distributed throughout North America, Mexico, West Indies, South America, including the Galápagos Islands; some species introduced to and naturalized in the Old World, Africa, and China. 3 • Native to the desert regions of Mexico 4 • Used primarily for food, but also used to make a liquor (Malta)

4. Traditional Uses: Pima – heated pads on breasts of nursing mothers increases breast milk Mayo- nopal root is a made into a tea for kidney pain and to dissolve kidney stones Tarahumara- a cast for broken bones, painful bites and burns Yaqui- cut pieces of stem in a jar of water to drink for diabetes PaiPai- applied to fractures and festering wounds (to draw out embedded thorn)

5. Modern Medicine: • Studies show its has neuro- protective, anti-ulcerative, and antioxidative effects in rats. 5 • Opuntiaficus-indica lowers blood sugar in rats 6 • Extracts damage membranes of Vibriocholerae7 • OpunDia (supplement of Opuntiaficus-indica) shown to lower blood glucose levels and safe in pre-diabetic males and females. 8 • Studies still determining all active compounds and presence of compounds in skin, fruit, other plant parts. 9

6. Active Compounds: • Opuntiaficusindica has flavonoids, kaempferol, luteolin, querecetin, rhamnetins, and beta-sitosterol. • The stem of pad has the most active compounds • High in mucilage- hypoglycemic, antihypergylcemic, and diuretic • Traditionally used to treat diabetes and still used today!

7. References • http://www.azcentral.com/health/diet/articles/0531prickly0531.html • http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=OPUNT# • http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=123045 • http://images.smithsonianmag.com/ads/mexico/Gastronomy/cuisine.html • Huang X, Li Q, Li H, Guo L.Neuroprotective and antioxidative effect of cactus polysaccharides in vivo and in vitro. Cell Mol Neurobiol. 2009 Dec;29(8):1211-21. • Guzmán-Maldonado SH, Morales-Montelongo AL, Mondragón-Jacobo C, Herrera-Hernández G, Guevara-Lara F, Reynoso-Camacho R. Physicochemical, nutritional, and functional characterization of fruits Xoconostle (Opuntiamatudae) pears from Central-México Region J Food Sci. 2010 Aug 1;75(6):C485-92. • Butterweck V, Semlin L, Feistel B, Pischel I, Bauer K, Verspohl EJ. Comparative evaluation of two different Opuntiaficus-indica extracts for blood sugar lowering effects in rats. Phytother Res. 2010 Aug 4. [Epub ahead of print] • Alimi H, Hfaiedh N, Bouoni Z, Hfaiedh M, Sakly M, Zourgui L, Rhouma KB. Antioxidant and antiulcerogenic activities of Opuntiaficusindica f. inermis root extract in rats. Phytomedicine. 2010 Jul 15. [Epub ahead of print] • Sánchez E, García S, Heredia N. Extracts of edible and medicinal plants damage membranes of Vibriocholerae. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2010 Oct;76(20):6888-94. Epub 2010 Aug 27 • Godard MP, Ewing BA, Pischel I, Ziegler A, Benedek B, Feistel B. Acute blood glucose lowering effects and long-term safety of OpunDia supplementation in pre-diabetic males and females. J Ethnopharmacol. 2010 Aug 9;130(3):631-4. Epub 2010 Jun 4.

8. Salvia Divinorum

9. Taxonomy • Kingdom:PlantaeOrder: LamialesFamily: LamiaceaeGenus: SalviaSpecies: S. divinorum • It grows over a meter high, has hollow square stems, large leaves, white flowers with a violet calyx. • Native habitat is within cloud forest in the isolated Sierra Mazateca region, Mexico growing in shady and moist locations.

10. Salvia Divinorum • An herb with a psychoactive (Hallucinogenic) reactions which can induce dissociative effects. • The Mazateca Shaman Indians use the herb as spiritual healing session. • Most of the Shaman believed that the plant is an incarnation of the Virgin Mary. (Ritual used to invoke a relationship)

11. Active Compound • Its psychoactive constituent is a structurally unique diterpenoid called Salvinorin A, a potent k-opioid and D2 receptor agonist. • Salvinorin A is not an alkaloid (unlike most known opioid receptor ligands.)

12. Traditional Use • The Shamans use only fresh S. divinorum leaves. They would see the plant as a incarnation of the Virgin Mary and begin the ritual with invocation to Mary, St. Peter, and Holy Trinity. • Ritual involves being in a quiet place after ingestion of the leaf, because S. Divinorum speaks with a quiet voice.

13. Traditional Use • Shaman would crush the leaves to extract leaf juices from about 20 ~ 80 fresh leaves. They usually mix these juices with water to create an infusion to tea which they drink to induce visions in ritual healing ceremonies. • Chewing and swallowing a large number of fresh leaves. With oral consumption of the leaf makes the effects occur more slowly.

14. Modern Uses • Smoking ~Dry leaves can be smoked in a pipe. • Chew • Use as a Tincture

15. Salvia Divinorum Mazateca Indians (Culture) Western (Culture) Used to facilitate states of consciousness for fun. Belief that they can probably “see” the Virgin Mary. Want to get high out of curiosity. Meditation “Threat to society” Internet • Used to facilitate visionary states of consciousness during spiritual healing. • Belief that the plant is an incarnation of the Virgin Mary. • Had meaning and purpose (invoking a relationship) • Meditation • “Gift from the gods” • Forest land

16. Potential Cure SALVIA HAS BEEN REPORTED BY MANY PROMINENT US SCIENTISTS TO HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO CURE: • - ALZHEIMER'S • - CANCERS • - HIV AND AIDS • - SCHIZOPHRENIA • - DEPRESSION • - ANXIETY • - CHRONIC PAIN • - DRUG ADDICTIONS, ESPECIALLY COCAINE

17. Salvia Divinorum

18. Yucca schidigera Gabriel Lucero - Medical Ethnobotany 11.23.10

19. Taxonomy-Distribution-Ecology Plant Family: Agavacea Common Name: Mojave Yucca Distribution: Native to deserts of US Southwest and Northern Mexico/Baja.Ca.No Habitat: Rocky desert slopes and Creosote desert flats. Upper limit altitude @8500ft Life Form: Shrub-tree Description: Long lived & slow growing evergreen shrub, Set of 6 fibrous, spine-tipped leaf blades produced 2-4X annually. Multi-stemmed with stems branchless or sparingly branched. 35 yrs to mature stem height 2-20’, diameter 6-20’’ Wood is soft and spongy with rough furrowed bark. Produces fleshy rhizome & indehiscent, fleshy fruit 3’’ long by 1.5’’ wide. Generates bell-shaped, white, purple-tipped flowers above longest leaves on a mature stalk & dull, black, ovoid seeds Ecological Tidbit: Maintains mutualistic relationship with Yucca Moth (Tegeticula yuccasella)

20. Traditional - Modern - Common - Medicinal Use ‘Tree of Life’ for Cahuilla people of Southern California Fruit and Seeds: Food – raw or roasted fruit, or ground seed flour Root: Soap - root scraped and lathered in water Whole Leaves: Shelter – securing and tying of house beams and poles Leaf Fibers: Rope, Sandals, Baskets - high tensile strength material Stem: Fuel or Fire starter - Lowest ignition temperature of any wood Medicinal Use: Anti-arthritic, Anti-inflammatory Modern industrial use copious and varied Animal Feed Additive - increased growth rate & feed efficiency anti-protozoan activity – mild surfactant enhanced absorption of lipids and fatty acids lowered levels of environmental ammonia - decreased enteric methane production & fecal aroma modification of flora – variously membranolytic Foaming Agent – beverage, pharmaceutical & food industries Surfactant – cosmetics production, mining ore separation, & emulsions for photographic film Additional Modern Medicinal Use: Anti-oxidant, Anti-cancer, Cardiovascular Health, Hypercholesteremia

21. Biochemistry: Saponins Spirostane Furostane • Steroidal saponins or saponin glycosides are natural detergents that form stable foams (Cheeke, 1998) • Saponins form insoluble complexes with cholesterol (Lindhal et al., 1957) and hypothesized principal action of saponins on blood cholesterol is by sequestration of cholesterol in the intestine thus preventing absorption. Dietary saponin reduces blood cholesterol levels (Newman et al. 1957, Griminger et al. 1958) and yucca extract lowers LDL without affecting HDL cholesterol levels in hypercholesterolemic individuals ( Kim et al., 2003) • Direct studies of anti-arthritic effects of Y schidigera performed (Bingham, 1975, 1976, 1978) and symptoms of pain and swelling in 60% of arthritic human patients were relieved by consumption of yucca tablets • Free-living protozoan, Naegleria, reported as universally present in the joints of arthritic patients (Wyburn-Mason, 1983) Saponins have anti-protozoal activity by complexing with cholesterol in protozoal cell membranes, causing damage to the membrane and cell lysis. This has been demonstrated with rumen protozoa in vivo (Wallace et al. 1994) • Saponins have anti-arthritic properties by suppressing intestinal protozoa which may have a role in joint inflammation

22. Biochemistry: Phenolics yuccaol - A resveratrol • Additional physiologically active polyphenols isolated from Y. schidigera bark • Yuccaol A,B,C,D,E - these phenolics have anti-inflammatory (McCartney-Francis et al. 1993, Sakurai et al., 1995) activity. They are inhibitors of the nuclear transcription factor NFkappaB. NFkB stimulates synthesis of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), which causes formation of the inflammatory agent nitric oxide • Yucca phenolics have inhibitory activity against platelet aggregation (Olas et al., 2002, 2003, 2005) Platelet aggregation is characteristic of inflammation. • - Yucca phenolics are also anti-oxidants (Piacente et al., 2004) and free-radical scavengers (Oleszek et al., 2001) which may aid in suppressing reactive oxygen species that also stimulate inflammatory responses Resveratrol – much studied phenolic shown to have antimutagenic (Uenobe et al., 1997), antiviral (Docherty et al., 1999), anti-inflammatory (Tsai et al., 1999) and cancer preventing (Jang et al.,1997; Surh et al., 1999) properties. Due to its antioxidant properties, resveratrol is thought to be responsible for the reduced risk of cardiovascular disease associated with a moderate consumption of red wine

23. Commercial Availability • Marketed as supplement to ‘improve joint health’, lower cholesterol, reduce blood pressure, reduce intestinal • tract toxicity, ameliorate carpal tunnel syndrome, ease back pain, or suggested as palliative for arthritic symptoms • Also available in pet food or as a separate supplement marketed to reduce yellowing of lawn from pet urine

24. CasimiroaEdulis • Casimiroa edulis is also known as the white sapote. It is native to Central Mexico, and is cultivated in many tropical and subtropical places in the world.

25. Common Names: White Sapote, Sapote, Zapote blanco, Casimiroa, Mexican Apple. • Scientific Name: Casimiroa Edulis: • Family: Rutacease Juss. • Related Species: Woolly-leaf Sapote, Yellow Sapote (C. tetrameria Millsp.). Matasano, (C. Sapote Oerst.), C. pringlei. • Distant affinity: Citrus, Bael Fruit (Aegle marmelos Correa), Wampi (Clausena lansium Skeels), Wood-apple (Feronia limonia Swingle) • Origin: The white sapote is native to central Mexico. The wooly-leaf sapote is native from Yucatan to Costa Rica. • Habitat:Tropical highland above 900m.

26. Adaptation: The Casimiroa edulis is successful wherever oranges can be grown. It does poorly in areas with high summer heat such as the deserts of the Southwest, and in the high humidity of the tropical lowlands of Hawaii and Florida. • It is an evergreen tree that can reach 60 ft (20 m) tall, but which is of more modest dimensions in cultivation. • It bears yellow-green • flowers and edible fruits.

27. The white sapote is a subtropical tree that can withstand a few degrees of frost. • it can survive in the low twenties (22°F-24°F, which is about -4°C to -5°C). • However, foliage and young trees will be damaged at 28°F (-2°C). • The tree does best where the mean temperature from April to October is about 68° F. • Growth Habit: It is deciduous under drought and other stress. The tree casts a dense shade. Growth is rapid. • It is densely branching, drooping at maturity. Young trees tend toward a single, limber stem for first 2 years often requiring staking.

28. The white sapote has glossy, bright green, palmately compound, hand-shaped leaves with 5 - 6 inch leaflets on a long petiole. New growth is usually reddish, becoming dark green with age, pale green beneath. • Stress such as either prolonged cold or abnormal heat, will cause defoliation and a subsequent new growth flush. Leaves will burn in hot winds, which may also scar the fruit or cause it to drop.

29. The odorless flowers, small and greenish-yellow, are 4- or 5-parted, and born in terminal and axillary panicles. They are hermaphrodite and occasionally unisexual because of aborted stigmas. • They follow growth flush and often rebloom again several months later. The flowers are attractive to bees, hoverflies and ants.

30. Fruit: White sapote fruit ripens six to nine months from bloom. • Size varies from 1 inch to 6 inches • Fruit color ranges from apple-green to orange-yellow at maturity. • The fruit shape is round, oval or ovoid, symmetrical or irregular. The skin is very thin and smooth, with a waxy bloom, and is sometimes bitter. • Green-skinned varieties have white flesh; yellow skinned varieties have yellow flesh

31. Casimiroa is very sweet (27% sugars), highly nutritious, and rich in vitamins, including A and C. The pulp is smooth and has no noticeable fiber. • Uses: In prepared dishes, casimiroa is frequently combined with milk to produce ice creams, milk shakes or pies. With added lemon or lime juice, the fruit makes a good jelly, and also sherbets. Casimiroa may also be dried as a fruit leather.

32. In Mexico casimiroa is also known as zapote blanco and abache. The fruit was well known to the Aztecs. The leaves, bark and seeds contain the glucoside "casimirosine", which lowers blood pressure. • In large doses, glucoside acts as a sedative, and alleviates rheumatic pains. It has been reported that a tea produced from the leaves would induce sleep within an hour. • Some have suggested counting trees in an imaginary orchard as effective as drinking this green tea.

33. References Casimiroa eduli. Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. 1997-05-22. http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/htm1/taxon.p1?9292 Retrieved 2009-02-06. Murillo G, Hirschelman WH, Ito A, et al. (2007). "Zapotin, a phytochemical present in a Mexican fruit, prevents colon carcinogenesis". Nutrition and Cancer 57 (1): Department of Horticulture. Purdue University. Retrieved on 2009/03/26 • Maiti A, Cuendet M, Kondratyuk T, Croy VL, zeputo JM, Cushman M (Jan 2007). • “Synthesis and cancer chemo preventive activity of zaptin. A natural product from Casimiroa edulis.” • Journal of Medicinal Chemistry (American Chemical Society) 50 (2):350-5.

34. CRFG Yearbooks:Vol.5 (1973) pp 6-20; Vol. 9 (1977). pp 18-19, 35-36; Vol.16 (1984) pp 56-64; Vol. 18 (1986). pp 33-36 • CRFG Newsletters: Vol. 4 No. 3 (1972), pp 1-12; Vol. 5 No. 2 (1973), pp 8-11; Vol. 6 No. 1 (1974), pp 6-8 • Facciola, Stephen. Cornucopia: a Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications, 1990. • Morton, Julia F. Fruits of Warm Climates. Creative Resources Systems, Inc. 1987. pp. 191-196. • Ortho Books. All About Citrus and Subtropical Fruits. Chevron Chemical Co. 1985. pp. 71-72.