ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY OF THE AERIAL PARTS AND THE FLOWERS OF CHILIOTRICHUM DIFFUSUM (G. FORST.) KUNTZE (ASTERACEAE), A MEDICINAL PLANT USED BY THE ONAS

The antioxidant capacity of Chiliotrichum diffusum, a medicinal plant used in the traditional medicine of the Onas (original people of Patagonia), was studied by using the DPPH method, to explain the properties associated to the traditional use of this species. Ethyl ether (or dichloromethane from decoction of the flowers) and the ethyl acetate fraction from ethanol and aqueous extracts, showed free radical scavenging capacity on DPPH•. The results of the quantitative determination of this activity in ethyl ether and the ethyl acetate fraction from ethanol extract of aerial parts showed SC50 of 5.2 and 3.5 μg/mL, respectively. Dichloromethane and ethyl acetate fractions of the aqueous extracts from flowers showed SC50 values of 35.0 and 9.5 μg/mL. The principal flavonoids found were kaempferol, quercetin and their derivates. These results showed a relation of the phenols evidenced in the aerial parts and flowers and the antioxidant activity; also explained, at least partially, the medicinal properties described, and the use of this plant in the traditional medicine of the Onas.