Theobromine, also known as xantheose, is the principal alkaloid of Theobroma cacao. Theobromine is slightly water-soluble (330 mg/L) with a bitter taste. In industry, theobromine is used as an additive and precursor to some cosmetics. It is found in chocolate, as well as in a number of other foods, including the leaves of the tea plant, and the kola nut. It is a white or colourless solid, but commercial samples can appear yellowish.
Gentianales is an order of flowering plants, included within the asterid clade of eudicots. It comprises more than 20,000 species in about 1,200 genera in 5 families. More than 80% of the species in this order belong to the family Rubiaceae.
Aconitine is an alkaloid toxin produced by various plant species belonging to the genus Aconitum, known also commonly by the names wolfsbane and monkshood. Monkshood is notorious for its toxic properties.
Atropa belladonna, commonly known as belladonna or deadly nightshade, is a toxic perennial herbaceous plant in the nightshade family Solanaceae, which also includes tomatoes, potatoes and eggplant (aubergine). It is native to Europe, North Africa and Western Asia, including Turkey. Its distribution extends from Ireland in the west to western Ukraine and the Iranian province of Gilan in the east. It is also naturalised or introduced in some parts of Canada and the United States.
Gelsemium sempervirens is a twining vine in the family Gelsemiaceae, native to subtropical and tropical America: Honduras, Guatemala, Belize, Mexico, and southeastern and south-central United States. It has a number of common names including yellow jessamine or confederate jessamine or jasmine, Carolina jasmine or jessamine, evening trumpetflower, gelsemium and woodbine.
Medicinal plants, also called medicinal herbs, have been discovered and used in traditional medicine practices since prehistoric times. Plants synthesize hundreds of chemical compounds for various functions, including defense and protection against insects, fungi, diseases, and herbivorous mammals.
Gelsemium is an Asian and North American genus of flowering plants belonging to family Gelsemiaceae. The genus contains three species of shrubs to straggling or twining climbers. Two species are native to North America, and one to China and Southeast Asia.
Tetrahydroharmine (THH) is a fluorescent indole alkaloid that occurs in the tropical liana species Banisteriopsis caapi.
Tripterygium wilfordii, or léi gōng téng (Mandarin), sometimes called thunder god vine but more properly translated thunder duke vine, is a vine used in traditional Chinese medicine.
Mesembryanthemum tortuosum is a succulent plant in the family Aizoaceae native to the Cape Provinces of South Africa. It is known as kanna, channa, kougoed —which literally means, 'chew(able) things' or 'something to chew'.
Mesembrine is an alkaloid present in Sceletium tortuosum (kanna). It has been shown to act as a serotonin reuptake inhibitor (Ki = 1.4 nM), and more recently, has also been found to behave as a weak inhibitor of the enzyme phosphodiesterase 4 (PDE4) (Ki = 7,800 nM). Still more recently, in an in vitro study published in 2015, scientist concluded that "a high-mesembrine Sceletium extract exerts its anti-depressant effect by acting primarily as monoamine releasing agent, rather than as selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitor." As such, mesembrine likely plays a dominant role in the antidepressant effects of kanna. The levorotatory isomer, (−)-mesembrine, is the natural form.
Lobeline is a pyridine alkaloid found in a variety of plants, particularly those in the genus Lobelia, including Indian tobacco, Devil's tobacco, great lobelia, Lobelia chinensis, and Hippobroma longiflora. In its pure form, it is a white amorphous powder which is freely soluble in water.
Higenamine (norcoclaurine) is a chemical compound found in a variety of plants including Nandina domestica (fruit), Aconitum carmichaelii (root), Asarum heterotropioides, Galium divaricatum, Annona squamosa, and Nelumbo nucifera.
Rhynchophylline is an alkaloid found in certain Uncaria species (Rubiaceae), notably Uncaria rhynchophylla and Uncaria tomentosa. It also occurs in the leaves of Mitragyna speciosa (kratom), a tree native to Thailand. Chemically, it is related to the alkaloid mitragynine.
Conium maculatum, colloquially known as hemlock, poison hemlock or wild hemlock, is a highly poisonous biennial herbaceous flowering plant in the carrot family Apiaceae, native to Europe and North Africa. A hardy plant capable of living in a variety of environments, hemlock is widely naturalized in locations outside its native range, such as parts of Australia, West Asia, and North and South America, to which it has been introduced. It is capable of spreading and thereby becoming an invasive weed.
Gelsemine (C20H22N2O2) is an indole alkaloid isolated from flowering plants of the genus Gelsemium, a plant native to the subtropical and tropical Americas, and southeast Asia, and is a highly toxic compound that acts as a paralytic, exposure to which can result in death. It has generally potent activity as an agonist of the mammalian glycine receptor, the activation of which leads to an inhibitory postsynaptic potential in neurons following chloride ion influx, and systemically, to muscle relaxation of varying intensity and deleterious effect. Despite its danger and toxicity, recent pharmacological research has suggested that the biological activities of this compound may offer opportunities for developing treatments related to xenobiotic or diet-induced oxidative stress, and of anxiety and other conditions, with ongoing research including attempts to identify safer derivatives and analogs to make use of gelsemine's beneficial effects.
Alexander Yurevich Perepilichny was a Russian businessman and whistleblower who died, while jogging near London in 2012, after leaving Russia in 2009.
Securinine is an alkaloid found in Securinega suffruticosa and Phyllanthus niruri.
Mostuea is one of only three genera of flowering plants belonging to the small family Gelsemiaceae. Mostuea and Gelsemium were formerly placed in the family Loganiaceae, while Pteleocarpa was placed variously in the families Icacinaceae, Cardiopteridaceae, Boraginaceae, and others, before the description of the Gelsemiaceae was altered formally to accommodate it in 2014. Mostuea is native to Africa and South America. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the roots of certain Mostuea species are used as ritual aphrodisiacs and entheogens in West Tropical Africa.
14-Hydroxygelsenicine (HGE) is a gelsedine-type indole alkaloid naturally found in some plants of the Gelsemium genus. G. elegans was used in traditional Chinese medicine as a remedy for a plethora of conditions such as skin ulcers and dermatitis, pain related to cancer, rheumatic arthritis, psoriasis as well as to treat bone fractures. It can also be found under the names “Duan Chang Cao”, “Gou Wen” and “heartbreak grass”. G. elegans is also known for its toxic effects; it is used by hilltribes of southeastern Asia as an effective means of committing suicide and has been linked to certain types of toxic honey, where HGE was the most abundant component. Gelsedine-type alkaloids from G. elegans usually express high toxicity, with gelsenicine being one of the most toxic. However, toxicity of HGE has not yet been thoroughly researched. More recent studies have shown that alkaloids derived from G. elegans have anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and immunomodulation properties, with the toxic dose being close to the therapeutic dose.
