DATURA STRAMONIUM GENERAL DESCRIPTION

DATURA STRAMONIUM
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Scientific name
with author
Datura stramonium L.
Plant photo – live
plant
Reference
Datura stramonium (2005).
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Datura_stramonium_2_(2005_07_07).jpg#mediaviewer/File:Dat
ura_stramonium_2_(2005_07_07).jpg
Synonyms
Datura inermis Juss. ex Jacq.; Datura stramonium var. chalybea W. D. J. Koch, nom. illeg.; Datura
stramonium var. tatula (L.) Torr.; Datura tatula L.
Family
Solanaceae
Vernacular/
traditional/
regional names
Bloustinkblaar, makolieboom, stinkblaar/wort (Afrikaans); Jimson weed, datura, thorn apple, moon
flower, Jamestown weed, stinkweed, locoweed, pricklyburr (English); lethsowe, lechoe (Sotho); zabazaba (Tsonga); ijoyi, umhlabavuthwa (Xhosa); iloyi, iloqi iyoye, iyoyi (Zulu)
Botanical
description
Datura stramonium is a robust erect annual herb which grows up to 1.5 metres high. The leaves are
large, bright green, irregularly toothed, and have an unpleasant smell when crushed. In the mature plant,
each leaf axil has a large, single, white or purplish tubular flower, followed by a spiny, four-locular fruit
capsule of about 50mm long. The very characteristic erect fruit has numerous thin spines of about 10 mm
long. Seeds are dark brown, kidney-shaped and about 3mm long.
Geographical
distribution
The plant is widely distributed in South Africa. It has become a cosmopolitan weed.
Distribution map
ETHNOBOTANICAL INFORMATION
Medicinal uses
This plant is widely used in traditional medicine, mainly to treat asthma and to reduce pain.
Weak infusions of the leaves are used for insomnia by the elderly and as aphrosidiacs by lovers. Warm
poultices and ointments of the fresh and dried leaves are applied topically to relieve pain and
inflammation, including for fractures, sprains, rheumatism, and to draw abscesses and soothe painful
wounds, septic sores and bruises. Warmed leaves are also applied to the breast to reduce lactation and to
firm the breast. Dried leaves are rolled up and smoked to induce euphoria, to treat headache, or to treat
asthma and bronchitis. Infusions and decoctions of the fresh and dried leaves are used in carefully
determined doses to sedate hysterical and psychotic patients.
Dried and powdered leaves and roots are sometimes used as snuff to aid divining. This snuff is also
applied to boils and used in the treatment of goitre complaints. Preparations of the seeds, or small
pellets of fresh leaves, are used topically to relieve earache.
The fresh green fruit is sometimes applied locally for toothache, a sore throat and tonsillitis.
Adequate doses of any part of the plant can cause mental confusion accompanied by vivid visual
hallucinations.
The two major alkaloids of the plant are used commercially: atropine is an ingredient in eye drops, and
hyoscine is used to treat motion sickness. Hyoscine may also be used as an injection to treat
Parkinsonism and painful visceral spasms.
References
Van Wyk, B.-E. and Gericke, N. (2007). People’s plants: a guide to useful plants of southern Africa. Briza,
Pretoria.
Watt, J.M. and Breyer-Brandwijk, M.G. (1962). The medicinal and poisonous plants of southern and
eastern Africa. 2nd ed. Livingstone, London.
QUALITY STANDARDS
Macroscopial
D. stramonium is an erect annual, freely branching herb that forms a bush up to 1.5 metres tall. The root
is long, thick, fibrous and white. The stem is stout, erect, leafy, and smooth. The stem forks off
repeatedly into branches, and at each fork forms a leaf and a single, erect flower. The leaves are
approximately 8–20 cm long, smooth, toothed, soft, irregularly undulate. The leaves have a bitter,
nauseating taste and, when crushed, have an unpleasant smell. The flowers are trumpet-shaped, white to
creamy or purple, and 6–9 cm long, and grow on short stems. The calyx is long and tubular, swollen at
the bottom, and sharply angled, surmounted by five sharp teeth. The corolla, which is folded and only
partially open, is white, funnel-shaped, and has prominent ribs. The egg-shaped seed capsule is covered
with spines. At maturity it splits into four chambers, each with dozens of small black seeds.
Microscopial
CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS
Chemical
constituents –
compounds diagrams
Chemical
constituents –
compounds description
The plant contains several tropane alkaloids, of which atropine (+)-hyoscyamine and (-)-hyoscine
(scopolamine) are the two major ones.
Chemical
constituents –
organoleptic
properties
The leaves have a bitter, nauseating taste and, when crushed, have an unpleasant smell.
Chemical
constituents –
TLC / HPLC / GC
Datura species contain tropane alkaloids, mainly atropine and scopolamine.
Chemical
constituents –
NIR Spectroscopy
image
Chemical
constituents –
NIR
Purity tests /
Requirements
TLC and HPLC are used.
Assay
Not yet available.
USAGE
Plant part used
The leaves are mainly used.
Plant part used
photograph
Dosage forms
The maximum dose per injection for hyoscine (scopolamine) is 0.25 mg. The maximum daily dose of the
alkaloid is 0.5 mg. For motion sickness, a skin patch containing 1.5 mg of hyoscine is applied behind the
ear. The patch releases 0.5 mg of the alkaloid in 72 hours. There is a danger of harmful side-effects.
Treatment should never be given without medical advice and the maximum dosage must not be
exceeded.
Reference
Bruneton, J. (1995). Pharmacognosy, phytochemistry, medicinal plants. Intercept, Hampshire.
Pharmacology/
bioactivity
Atrophine decreases bronchial and salivary secretions and increases the heart rate. The effect on the
central nervous system is firstly stimulation, then sedation. Derivatives of atrophine are used in some
modern asthma inhalers.
Scopolamine is a potent sedative. It has been used successfully on its own as a general anaesthetic in
China.
All parts of the plant are potentially highly toxic, and fatalities are well known to have occurred in
southern Africa and elsewhere. In 1996, 52 people died in India after eating food contaminated with D.
stramonium. Signs of acute poisoning include widely dilated pupils, rapid pulse, a flushed appearance,
dry mouth, delirium, and fever.
References
Gaire, B.P. and Subedi, L. (2013). A review on the pharmacological and toxicological aspects of Datura
stramonium L. Journal of Integrative Medicine, 11(2):73-79.
Van Wyk, B-E. and Gericke, N. (2007). People’s plants: a guide to useful plants of southern Africa. Briza,
Pretoria.
Wink, M. and van Wyk, B-E. (2008). Mind altering and poisonous plants of the world. Briza, Pretoria.
Contraindications
Adverse
reactions
Adequate doses of any part of the plant can cause mental confusion accompanied by vivid visual
hallucinations. All parts of the plant are potentially highly toxic, and fatalities have occurred. Signs of
acute poisoning include widely dilated pupils, rapid pulse, a flushed appearance, dry mouth, delirium, and
fever.
Reference
Van Wyk, B-E. and Gericke, N. (2007). People’s plants: a guide to useful plants of southern Africa. Briza,
Pretoria.
Precautions
There is a danger of harmful side effects. Treatments should never be given without medical advice and
supervision.
Dosage and
preparation
Infusions and decoctions of the fresh and dried leaves are taken for a variety of ailments, but mainly to
treat asthma and to relieve pain. Warmed leaves, without the mid-rib, are applied topically as poultices to
relieve pain and inflammation, including for fractures, sprains, rheumatism, and to draw abscesses and
soothe painful wounds, septic sores and bruises, and to reduce lactation.
The two major alkaloids of the plant are used commercially: atropine is an ingredient in eye drops.
Hyoscine, applied as a skin patch behind the ear, is used to treat motion sickness. Hyoscine may also be
used as an injection to treat Parkinsonism and painful visceral spasms. There is a danger of harmful sideeffects.
Adequate doses of any part of the plant can cause intoxication and mental confusion accompanied by
vivid visual hallucinations. Signs of acute poisoning include widely dilated pupils, rapid pulse, a flushed
appearance, dry mouth, delirium, and fever.
References
Bruneton, J. (1995). Pharmacognosy, phytochemistry, medicinal plants. Intercept, Hampshire.
Watt, J.M. and Breyer-Brandwijk, M.G. (1962). The medicinal and poisonous plants of southern and
eastern Africa. 2nd ed. Livingstone, London.
Source References
Hutchings, A., Scott, A.H., Lewis, G. and Cunningham, A.B. (1996). Zulu Medicinal Plants: an inventory. Natal University Press,
Pietermaritzburg.
Van Wyk, B.-E., van Oudtshoorn, B. and Gericke, N. (2009). Medicinal plants of South Africa. 2nd ed. Briza, Pretoria.