Lippia alba (Mill.) N.E. Br. ex Britton & P. Wilson is an aromatic medicinal plant widely used in traditional medicine for the management of digestive, inflammatory, and infectious disorders. The present study aimed to investigate the ethnobotanical relevance, chemical composition, antioxidant, antifungal, antibacterial, and molecular docking properties of L. alba essential oil (EOLA). Ethnobotanical information was collected through semi-structured interviews with herbal vendors. The essential oil was obtained by hydrodistillation and chemically characterized by GC–MS and GC–FID, leading to the identification of 27 volatile constituents. The chemical profile was dominated by oxygenated monoterpenes (83.83%), with (−)-carvone (63.79%) and dihydrocarvyl acetate (17.74%) as the major compounds, confirming a carvone chemotype. EOLA exhibited moderate antioxidant activity, with values of 24.1 mg TE/100 g and 34.5 mg TE/100 g in the DPPH and ABTS assays, respectively. Furthermore, the essential oil demonstrated significant concentration-dependent antifungal and antibacterial activities against Candida albicans and Staphylococcus aureus. At the highest concentration tested, the antimicrobial activity approached that of the reference drugs. In silico ADMET analysis predicted favorable pharmacokinetic and drug-likeness properties for the major volatile constituents. Molecular docking studies revealed relevant interactions between several compounds, particularly α-gurjunene, alloaromadendrene, trans-α-bisabolene, and (−)-β-bourbonene, and molecular targets associated with oxidative stress and microbial inhibition, providing mechanistic insights into the biological activities observed experimentally. Overall, these findings support the ethnopharmacological use of L. alba and highlight its essential oil as a promising natural source of bioactive compounds with antioxidant and antimicrobial potential for future phytopharmaceutical applications.

(1) Background: Clinopodium pulchellum (Kunth) Govaerts (Panizara) is an aromatic Andean medicinal plant traditionally used in Peru to manage nervous disorders, insomnia, and digestive complaints; however, its neuropharmacological properties remain poorly validated. This study aimed to evaluate the anxiolytic- and antidepressant-like effects of C. pulchellum and to characterize its phytochemical profile as supportive evidence. (2) Methods: The essential oil was obtained by hydrodistillation and analyzed using GC–MS and GC–FID. (3) Results: Fifteen volatile compounds were identified based on retention indices and mass spectral data, with β-caryophyllene (22.9%) and linalool (19.1%) as the most representative constituents, while other compounds were tentatively identified. The aqueous extract showed total phenolic and flavonoid contents of 34.15 mg GAE/g and 29.44 mg QE/g, respectively, and moderate antioxidant activity (DPPH = 2.36 mg TE/g; ABTS = 3.33 mg TE/g). In vivo assays revealed that EOCP at 200 mg·kg⁻¹ significantly increased open-arm exploration in the elevated plus maze and reduced immobility time in the CUMS–forced swim test by 37% compared with the stress group, although the effect was lower than that of reference drugs. Molecular docking analysis indicated favorable binding affinities of β-caryophyllene, humulene, and aromandendrene with serotonergic and ion channel targets, while ADMET predictions suggested suitable pharmacokinetic properties. (4) Conclusions: These findings indicate that the observed neuropharmacological effects may be associated with the presence of bioactive terpenoids typical of Lamiaceae, supporting the traditional use of C. pulchellum. However, further studies are required to confirm the identity of uncommon constituents and to elucidate the mechanisms underlying its biological activity.

Urban medicinal plant markets preserve traditional knowledge, but information on the quality and chemical characteristics of commercial plant materials remains limited. This study combined a descriptive cross-sectional survey of 48 medicinal plant vendors at Gamarra Market, Lima, Peru, with selected physicochemical, elemental, and phytochemical analyses of commercial leaves of Aristeguietia ballii (Oliv.) R.M.King & H.Rob., Borago officinalis L., Senecio canescens (Bonpl.) Cuatrec., and Eucalyptus globulus Labill. The survey documented plant names, reported medicinal uses, plant parts, preparation methods, and routes of administration. Laboratory analyses included proximate composition, arsenic (As), lead (Pb), and mercury (Hg) determination, preliminary phytochemical screening, spectrophotometric estimates of total phenolic content (TPC) and total flavonoid content (TFC), and DPPH and ABTS radical-scavenging assays. A. ballii had the highest concentrations of As (2.18 mg/kg) and Pb (2.54 mg/kg) among the materials analyzed, while Hg was below the detection limit in all samples. E. globulus yielded positive reactions in the greatest number of qualitative screening assays and the highest TPC in its hydroethanolic extract (53.22 ± 1.00 mg GAE/g DS) and TFC in its chloroform-derived extract (21.92 ± 0.41 mg QE/g DS). Hydroethanolic B. officinalis had the highest DPPH response (33.39 ± 0.63 mg TE/g DS), whereas aqueous E. globulus had the highest ABTS response (63.60 ± 1.19 mg TE/g DS). These findings characterize the interviewed vendors’ reports and the commercial samples analyzed. Convenience sampling and one composite commercial sample per species limit generalizability, and the chemical assays do not establish respiratory efficacy or overall toxicological safety.

La gamificación pedagógica emerge como una estrategia innovadora que integra elementos y mecánicas propias de los juegos en entornos educativos formales con el objetivo de incrementar la motivación, el compromiso y, consecuentemente, la persistencia académica de los estudiantes. El presente estudio tuvo como objetivo analizar la relación entre la implementación de estrategias de gamificación pedagógica y la persistencia académica en estudiantes de educación superior de universidades ubicadas en la sierra peruana. Se empleó un diseño metodológico mixto con una muestra de 385 estudiantes de cuatro universidades serranas durante el período académico 2023-2024. Los resultados evidenciaron que la gamificación incrementó significativamente la motivación intrínseca y redujo las tasas de deserción en un 23.7%. Se identificaron como factores de éxito la adaptación contextual de las mecánicas lúdicas, el fortalecimiento del sentido de comunidad y la retroalimentación inmediata. Se concluye que, la gamificación pedagógica, cuando es diseñada con sensibilidad cultural y adaptada a condiciones contextuales específicas, constituye una estrategia efectiva para incrementar la persistencia académica de estudiantes en universidades de la sierra peruana.