''Peumus boldus'', the only

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

in the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

''Peumus'', is commonly known as boldo (from the

Mapuche The Mapuche ( (Mapuche & Spanish: )) are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of Patagonia. The collective term refers to a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who sha ...

name ''foḻo''). This tree of the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Monimiaceae The Monimiaceae is a family (biology), family of flowering plants in the magnoliid Order (biology), order Laurales.Peter F. Stevens (2001 onwards). "Monimiaceae" At: Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. At: Botanical Databases At: Missouri Botanical Gar ...

is natively

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the central region of

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

, occurring from 33° to 40° southern latitude. Boldo has also been introduced to

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

, though it is not often seen outside

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...

s. Due to its common name (boldo), mainly in Latin America, it is usually confused with the ''

Plectranthus ornatus ''Coleus comosus'', synonym ''Plectranthus ornatus'', is a flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the ...

'' species, known as ''falso boldo'' ("fake ''boldo''"), ''boldo paraguayo'' or ''boldo rastrero'', which has led to confusion about the uses, properties and toxicity of both species.

Description

''Boldo'', together with ''litre'', ''quillay'', ''peumo'', ''bollén'' and other indigenous plants, is a characteristic component of the

sclerophyllous Sclerophyll is a type of vegetation that is adapted to long periods of dryness and heat. The plants feature hard leaves, short internodes (the distance between leaves along the stem) and leaf orientation which is parallel or oblique to direct ...

forests

to central Chile. Its leaves, which have a strong, woody and slightly bitter flavor and

camphor Camphor () is a waxy, colorless solid with a strong aroma. It is classified as a terpenoid and a cyclic ketone. It is found in the wood of the camphor laurel ('' Cinnamomum camphora''), a large evergreen tree found in East Asia; and in the k ...

-like aroma, are used for culinary purposes, primarily in Latin America. The leaves are used in a similar manner to

bay leaves The bay leaf is an aromatic leaf commonly used in cooking. It can be used whole, either dried or fresh, in which case it is removed from the dish before consumption, or less commonly used in ground form. It may come from several species of tr ...

and also used as a

herbal tea Herbal teas, also known as herbal infusions and less commonly called tisanes (UK and US , US also ), are beverages made from the infusion or decoction of herbs, spices, or other plant material in hot water. Oftentimes herb tea, or the plain term ...

, primarily in

and

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. The Edible Fruit. The fruits are small drupes (about 2 cm in diameter), green in color and have a pleasant flavor.

Growth

Although not well known, boldo fruits, which appear between December and February, are very tasty, nutritious, small, green, edible spheres. Boldo's assertive flavor comes primarily from the presence of the chemical

ascaridole Ascaridole is a natural organic compound classified as a bicyclic monoterpenoid that has an unusual bridging peroxide functional group. It is a colorless liquid with a pungent smell and taste that is soluble in most organic solvents. Like other lo ...

, which is also present in the ''

epazote ''Dysphania ambrosioides'', formerly ''Chenopodium ambrosioides'', known as Jesuit's tea, Mexican-tea, ''payqu'' ''(paico)'', ''epazote'', ''mastruz'', or ''herba sanctæ Mariæ'', is an annual or short-lived perennial herb native to Central A ...

'' plant.

Uses

In Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, and Paraguay, boldo is mixed with ''

yerba mate Yerba mate or yerba-maté (''Ilex paraguariensis''; from Spanish ; pt, erva-mate, or ; gn, ka'a, ) is a plant species of the holly genus ''Ilex'' native to South America. It was named by the French botanist Augustin Saint-Hilaire. The leave ...

'' or other teas to moderate its flavor. Some families keep a boldo plant at home for this purpose, although boldo

teabag A tea bag, or the compound teabag, is a small, porous, sealed bag or packet, typically containing tea leaves or the leaves of other herbs, which is immersed in water to steep and make an infusion. Originally used only for tea (''Camellia ...

s are readily available in nearly all supermarkets. Boldo and plants with similar properties are widely used as mild

folk medicine Traditional medicine (also known as indigenous medicine or folk medicine) comprises medical aspects of traditional knowledge that developed over generations within the folk beliefs of various societies, including indigenous peoples, before the ...

in various South American countries in both urban and rural areas, even among people who do not usually drink

s other than mate beverage. Boldo is officially listed as phytotherapic plant as

cholagogue A cholagogue is a substance that is purported by humoral practitioners to encourage the discharge of bile from the system, purging it downward. Deployment is no longer recommended because the biliary purge, like the traditional kidney purge, can c ...

and

choleretic Choleretics are substances that increase the volume of secretion of bile from the liver The liver is a major organ only found in vertebrates which performs many essential biological functions such as detoxification of the organism, and the sy ...

, for treatment of mild

dyspepsia Indigestion, also known as dyspepsia or upset stomach, is a condition of impaired digestion. Symptoms may include upper abdominal fullness, heartburn, nausea, belching, or upper abdominal pain. People may also experience feeling full earlier t ...

in Brazilian

pharmacopoeia A pharmacopoeia, pharmacopeia, or pharmacopoea (from the obsolete typography ''pharmacopœia'', meaning "drug-making"), in its modern technical sense, is a book containing directions for the identification of compound medicines, and published by ...

. Boldo is in the family

, which is closely related to the family

Lauraceae Lauraceae, or the laurels, is a plant family that includes the true laurel and its closest relatives. This family comprises about 2850 known species in about 45 genera worldwide (Christenhusz & Byng 2016 ). They are dicotyledons, and occur ma ...

(which includes many other plants used for their aromatic leaves, such as

cinnamon Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several tree species from the genus ''Cinnamomum''. Cinnamon is used mainly as an aromatic condiment and flavouring additive in a wide variety of cuisines, sweet and savoury dishes, breakfa ...

, cassia, bay leaf, and camphor laurel.) Boldo leaves have slightly bitter soft flavor and a bit coniferous rough taste when brewed in tea. They are used as a culinary herb to spice many savory dishes with fish, mushrooms, vegetables and as a component in sauces. In some local South American kitchens boldo leaves are also popular to wrap frying fish and meat. Boldo fruits, when dried, are used to make spicy condiments.

Toxicity

In 2009, the European Medicines Agency assessed boldo as follows: Boldo leaf contains the alkaloid

boldine Boldine is an alkaloid of the aporphine class that can be found in the boldo tree and in ''Lindera aggregata ''Lindera aggregata'' is a plant species belonging to the genus ''Lindera''. Other names Engl.: evergreen lindera, Japanese evergree ...

. Boldo leaf also contains 2-4% of volatile oil. Major constituents reported as:

(16-38%), 1,8-cineole (11-39%) and

p-Cymene ''p''-Cymene is a naturally occurring aromatic organic compound. It is classified as an alkylbenzene related to a monoterpene. Its structure consists of a benzene ring ''para''-substituted with a methyl group and an isopropyl group. ''p''-Cym ...

(9-29%).Mariano, 2019 Ascaridole is highly toxic, and this raises concerns about the suitability of boldo leaf in traditional herbal medicinal products.

Abortifacient An abortifacient ("that which will cause a miscarriage" from Latin: ''abortus'' "miscarriage" and '' faciens'' "making") is a substance that induces abortion. This is a nonspecific term which may refer to any number of substances or medications, ...

and

teratogenic Teratology is the study of abnormalities of physiological development in organisms during their life span. It is a sub-discipline in medical genetics which focuses on the classification of congenital abnormalities in dysmorphology. The related t ...

effects in rats were observed with very high doses (800 mg/kg) of a dry ethanolic extract of boldine in the first days of pregnancy, not present at lower doses. Most investigations have been carried out using boldine. Limited information is available on herbal preparations of boldo leaf and where studies have been reported, details of the preparations are usually lacking. There are no reported genotoxicity or carcinogenicity studies with herbal preparations of boldo leaf. Boldo oil should not be used internally or externally. Where boldo leaf is used, the total exposure to ascaridole should be considered from a safety standpoint. The levels of ascaridole in herbal medicinal products should be quantified. In view of the low solubility of ascaridole in water, the use of aqueous extracts including herbal teas could be accepted. The use of ethanolic extracts of boldo leaf is not considered acceptable for traditional herbal medicinal products, in view of the potentially higher levels of the toxic ascaridole constituent.

References

External links

* * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q833994 Monimiaceae Flora of the Chilean Matorral Trees of Chile Trees of Mediterranean climate Drought-tolerant trees Endemic flora of Chile Medicinal plants of South America Dietary supplements Herbs Herbal tea