BVB221 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Papaver Somniferum, Alkaloid, Medicinal Plants
Document Summary
History: used in "potions" and poisons, used to treat insanity and snakebite fever. First used was: opium poppy (some of the first natural products to be isolated from medicinal plants were alkaloids. Distribution: there are more than 10,000 types of isolated alkaloids, the most important plant families as sources of alkaloids are: Alkaloids primarily occur in plants, but some occur in bacteria, fungi, insects, and even animals. Some occur in certain families, and some occur in a single plant species. Implies that even if the presence of alkaloids is not vital to the plant, they do participate in metabolic sequences and are not solely the waste products of metabolism. Applications: medicinal, virtually every application except antibiotic, most common mode of action is the nervous system, agriculture. Insecticides & veterinary: cultural/entheogenic, most often to induce an altered state of consciousness, sometimes induce pain or illness: ordeal, initiation rites, recreational, self-explanatory.
