BELLADONNA (Tropane Alkaloids)

Basic Information

• Synonym: Belladonna leaf, Belladonna folium, Deadly night shade leaf (European belladonna)
• Biological Source: Dried leaves or aerial parts of Atropa belladonna Linn. (European) or Atropa acuminata Royle ex-Lindley (Indian), or a mixture of both, collected during flowering. Family: Solanaceae. Contains not less than 0.3% alkaloids, calculated as hyoscyamine.
• Geographical Source: Indigenous to England and European countries. In India - western Himalayas (Shimla to Kashmir), Himachal Pradesh, Jammu, forests of Sindhu and Chanab valley.

Macroscopic Characters

• Odour: Slight and characteristic
• Taste: Bitter and acrid

Microscopic Characters

• Epidermal cells with slightly sinuous anticlinal wall and striated cuticle
• Anisocytic stomata and occasionally uniseriate multicellular covering trichomes
• Glandular trichomes - uniseriate with unicellular heads (club-shaped)
• Internal vascular bundle: Perimedullary phloem, Xylem, Phloem, Idioblasts
• Palisade ratio: 5 to 7

Chemical Constituents

• Total alkaloid content: 0.4 - 1%
  • Root: 0.6% | Stems: 0.05% | Leaves: 0.4% | Berries: 0.19-0.21% | Seeds: 0.33%
• Main alkaloids: Hyoscyamine and its racemic form Atropine
• Other constituents: Belladonine, Scopoletin (methyl aesculetin), Hyoscine
• Volatile bases: Pyridine, N-methyl pyrroline
• Homatropine - synthetic compound, preferred because synthesis of atropine/hyoscyamine is very costly

Chemical Test

• Vitali-Morin Test: Positive
• Procedure: Add few drops of H₂SO₄ or HNO₃ to sample → evaporate to dryness → add methanolic KOH solution → produces violet/bright purple colour = confirms tropane alkaloids

Pharmacological Actions & Uses

• Parasympatholytic drug with anticholinergic properties
• Reduces secretions - sweat, saliva, gastric juice
• Reduces spasm in intestinal gripping due to strong purgatives
• Used as antidote in opium and choral hydrate poisoning

Dose

• 0.6 to 1 ml (as belladonna tincture) - 4 times a day

OPIUM (Quinoline and Isoquinoline Alkaloids)

Basic Information

• Synonym: Raw Opium
• Biological Source: Air-dried milky exudates (dried latex) obtained by incision from unripe capsules of Papaver somniferum Linn., dried by heat or spontaneous evaporation. Worked into irregularly shaped masses (natural opium) or uniform masses (manipulated opium). Family: Papaveraceae.
  • Contains not less than 10% morphine and not less than 2.0% codeine (both as anhydrous morphine)
• Geographical Source: India (Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh), Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkey, Russia, China, Iran

Macroscopic Characters

• Annual plant, erect stem, 1-1.5 m in height
• Opium masses: rounded, somewhat flattened, 8-15 cm diameter, weighing 300g - 2 kg
• External colour: Pale olive-brown or olive-gray, covered with fragments of poppy leaves
• Internally: Coarsely granular or nearly smooth, reddish-brown, with lighter interspersed areas, somewhat lustrous
• Odour: Strong and characteristic
• Taste: Bitter and characteristic