Abstract

DEL VITTO, Luis A.  and  PETENATTI, E. M.. Asteraceae of economic and environmental importance: First part. Morphological and taxonomic synopsis, environmental importance and plants of industrial value. Multequina [online]. 2009, vol.18, n.2, pp.87-115. ISSN 1852-7329.

Asteraceae include many useful species (medical, agricultural, industrial, etc.). Some have been domesticated and cultivated since ancient times and other up vast tracts of natural vegetation, determining the physiognomy of many landscapes. Their ethnobotanical use has sustained a lot of peoples all over the world. Today, some 40 genera are relevant for human and animal feeding, sources of eating oils, essential oils, fodder, honey and pollen, sweeteners, spices, dyes, insecticides, rubber, wood, firewood or cellulose. Others are major weeds and/or plants toxic to humans and livestock, some cause allergies and others are valuable ornamentals. A great number of therapeutic secondary metabolites are synthesized by Asteraceae, while others acts as insectifuge. It provides a synthesis of the Asteraceae useful and harmful Asteraceae, taxonomically updated, considering ethnobotanical uses and phytochemical and pharmacological properties, with emphasis on wild, cultivated or weed entities lived in Argentina. In this first part discusses the general characteristics of the family, habitat and dispersal, phytochemistry, genera and species of industrial, ecological and environmental importance, and conservation status of its members, taken globally, all this in the light of the current systematization of the Family.

Keywords : Economic botany; Ethnobotany; Noxious plants; Useful plants.

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