Minthostachys mollis

Minthostachys mollis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Asterids
Order:	Lamiales
Family:	Lamiaceae
Genus:	Minthostachys
Species:	M. mollis
Binomial name
Minthostachys mollis (Kunth) Griseb.

Minthostachys mollis (muña) is a medicinal plant restricted to the South American Andes from Venezuela to Bolivia. It is the most variable and widely distributed species of the genus Minthostachys.

Medicinal uses

In the indigenous medicine traditions of the Andes, the plant is made into tea and used medicinally as a carminative and aphrodisiac.^{[citation needed]}

Etymology

Its common name "muña" comes from Quechua.

Chemical characteristics

The principal components of essential oil are as follows:

• pulegone
• menthone
• menthol
• (-)-β-pinene
• (-)-α-pinene
• limonene
• isomenthone
• piperic acid
• eucalyptol
• carvone

Pharmacological characteristics

Internal	External
Digestive aid	Rheumatic pain relief
Antispasmodic (cramp and spasm relief)	Expelling activity against ectoparasites
Antidiarrheal (symptomatic relief for diarrhea)
Anthelmintic (expelling parasitic worms)
Carminative (against cramps in the digestive tract)
Emmenagogue (stimulating blood flow in the pelvic area and uterus, thus sometimes stimulating menstruation)
Inhalations against catarrh and sinusitis

Notes

References

• USDA, ARS, GRIN. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. Minthostachys mollis information from NPGS/GRIN (7 September 2008)