The discovery of new pharmaceutical identities, particularly anti-infective agents, represents an urgent need due to the increase in immunocompromised patients and the ineffectiveness/toxicity of the drugs currently used. The scientific community has recognized in the last decades the importance of the plant kingdom as a huge source of novel molecules which could act against different type of infections or illness. However, the great diversity of plant species makes it difficult to select them with probabilities of success, adding to the fact that existing information is difficult to find, it is atomized or disordered. Persicaria and Polygonum constitute two of the main representatives of the Polygonaceae family, which have been extensively used in traditional medicine worldwide. Important and structurally diverse bioactive compounds have been isolated from these genera of wild plants; among them, sesquiterpenes and flavonoids should be remarked. In this article, we firstly mention all the species reported with pharmacological use and their geographical distribution. Moreover, a number of tables which summarize an update detailing the type of natural product (extract or isolated compound), applied doses, displayed bioassays and the results obtained for the main bioactivities of these genera cited in the literature during the past 40 years. Antimicrobial, antioxidant, analgesic and anti-inflammatory, antinociceptive, anticancer, antiviral, antiparasitic, anti-diabetic, antipyretic, hepatoprotective, diuretic, gastroprotective and neuropharmacological activities were explored and reviewed in this work, concluding that both genera could be the source for upcoming molecules to treat different human diseases.

Natural products obtained from plants constitute an alternative to chemically synthesized fungicides, whose improper use might have caused the development of resistant fungal strains. In the present work, 40 products obtained from 20 native Argentinean plant species were tested against three citrus postharvest pathogens: Penicillium digitatum, Penicillium italicum, and Geotrichum citri-aurantii. Natural products were obtained by classical solvent extraction methods and the fungicidal evaluation was carried out by agar diffusion tests using commercial fungicides as negative controls and dimethyl sulfoxide as a positive one. The inhibition percentages were determined 7 and 14 days post inoculation of each fungus. Most of the products tested showed inhibition percentages higher than 50% for G. citri-aurantii, but only 20% of them were active against P. digitatum and P. italicum. The most promising products which inhibited (100%) the growth of at least one of the three phytopathogens were extracted from the following plants: Orthosia virgata, Petiveria alliacea, Funastrum clausum, Solanum caavurana, and Solanum pilcomayense. These products were tested over inoculated oranges and there were no statistically significant differences between the treatments with a commercial fungicide and the methanolic extract in the control of fruit rot. The products extracted from native plants have fungicide potential, but further studies are required.