Review article prospecting research progress on the nutraceutical properties of Erythroxylum coca Lamarck var. coca

Coca is a plant of traditional use in the Andean-Amazonian communities for its enormous richness in nutrients, particularly calcium, zinc, potassium, phosphorus, iron, magnesium, vitamins, essential oil, flavones, alkaloids; reason why it is used as supplementary food, the consumption is under the modality of direct chewing of the organic leaf and coca flour, it is also of multiple medicinal use. In rural people, osteoporosis, anemia and diabetes are not a common problem, despite the enormous effort in agricultural activities. Likewise, mongolism is infrequent; on the contrary, they enjoy mental lucidity and it is attributed to the role of phosphorus, iron and zinc in the physiology of the body. Due to the precarious economy, they are limited to the consumption of vitamins and minerals offered by the pharmaceutical industry, unlike the urban community.