Regeneración natural, diversidad y estructura de la vegetación de área disturbada del campus María Auxiliadora de la Universidad Politécnica Salesiana Guayaquil, Ecuador

Abstract

The Tropical Dry Forest of Ecuador (BSTE) is a unique specimen in terms of flora diversity, covering much of the Ecuadorian coast and its peculiarity is that during the summer the forest remains dry, however, it is threatened by the little importance given to its characteristic, therefore, much of its population has been reduced due to anthropogenic activities. The study area was divided by horizontal transects and 15 random collection points where the conservation status of the forest remnant of the María Auxiliadora campus of the Salesian Polytechnic University, Guayaquil, Ecuador was evaluated by applying the rapid ecological assessment and the species Momordica charantia was selected as a representative individual. Its bioactive components were identified in hexanic, methanolic and aqueous extracts of leaves and total fruit, by means of phytochemical screening. Finally, the plants identified in the forest remnant were herborized, then it was determined that the diversity of the study area is medium-high in terms of families and thanks to the use of secondary metabolites of M. charantia, nutraceutical levels can be enhanced with biotechnological application.