Table 1.
Biologically active alkaloids exploited in modern medicine.
| Alkaloid | Plant Source | Pharmaceutical Use |
|---|---|---|
| Tropane and Nicotine | ||
| Atropine | Hyoscyamus niger | Anticholinergic, antidote to nerve gas poisoning [36] |
| Cocaine | Erythroxylon coca | Topical anaesthetic, potent central nervous system stimulant, and adrenergic blocking agent; drug of abuse [30,37] |
| Codeine | Papaver somniferum | A nonaddictive analgesic and antitussive [30] |
| Morphine | Papaver somniferum | Powerful narcotic analgesic, addictive drug of abuse [30] |
| Nicotine | Nicotiana tabacum | Highly toxic, causes respiratory paralysis, horticultural insecticide; drug of abuse [37] |
| Scopolamine | Hyoscyamu. niger | Powerful narcotic, used as a sedative for motion sickness [36] |
| (+)-Tubocurarine | Chondrodendron tomentosm | Nondepolarising muscle relaxant producing paralysis, used as an adjuvant to anaesthesia [37] |
| Amarryllidaceae | ||
| Galanthamine | Galanthus woronowii | Used in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease [37] |
| Piperidine | ||
| Coniine | Conium maculatum | An extremely toxic alkaloid, causes paralysis of motor nerve endings, used in homeopathy in minute doses [38] |
| Terpenoid Indole Alkaloids | ||
| Ajmaline | Rauwolfia serpentina | Antiarrythmic that functions by inhibiting glucose uptake by heart tissue mitochondria [37] |
| Camptothecin | Camptotheca acuminata | Potent anticancer agent [39,40] |
| Quinine | Cinchona officinalis | Traditional antimalarial, important in treating Plasmodium falciparum strains that are resistant to other antimalarials [41] |
| Strychnine | Strychnos nuxvomica | Tetanic poison, rat poison, used in homeopathy [37] |
| Vinblastine | Catharanthus roseus | Antineoplastic used to treat Hodgkin’s disease and other lymphomas |
| Vincristine | Catharanthus roseus | Am antitumor and chemotherapeutic agent [37] |
| Purine | ||
| Caffeine | Coffea arabica | Used as a central nervous system stimulant [42,43,44] |
| Pilocarpus | ||
| Pilocarpine | Pilocarpus jaborandi | Peripheral stimulant of the parasympathetic system, used to treat glaucoma [37] |
| Ipecac | ||
| Emetine | Uragoga ipecacuanha | Orally active emetic, amoebicide [37] |
| Benzophenanthridine | ||
| Sanguinarine | Eschscholzia californica | Antibacterial showing antiplaque activity, used in toothpastes and oral rinses [37] |