Herbal Alkaloids

What Are Herbal Alkaloids? 

Of all the herbal constituents, alkaloids are known to be more potent and highly toxic with an exceedingly severe degree of direct action on your body. Herbal alkaloids are also the most studied compounds with tons of information available on hundreds of different alkaloids. It is also needless to say that the action of any alkaloid is basically very stressful. Alkaloids are one of the most basic compounds of any plants and virtually every plant on the planet has some form of alkaloids in their composition. However, the amount of alkaloids may vary from herb to herb, with a high degree of alkaloids in plants like Datura and Belladona.

It is quite well known that some herbs that have a significant amount of alkaloids contain a toxic principle that is almost direct in action. Two such examples are strychnine and coniine which act as poison to the central nervous system and ultimately causes death. However there are also many herbal alkaloids which have an analgesic aspect like Devil’s Claw. In medicine an example of this is morphine and codeine.  

Herbal alkaloids are more soluble in alcohol than in water and most of the decoctions and herbal infusions in alcohol invariably contain a large amount of alkaloids. Herbal infusions made in water tend to contain lesser amount of alkaloids as the solubility capacity of herb on water is quite less. Of late, alcohol tinctures containing therapeutic principles of a particular herb is widely used among patients.

So, what is an alkaloid? So far, the attempts to define an alkaloid have been not satisfactory and you may really get confused with those available definitions. Most probably, the word “alkaloid” took its birth from two simple words- “vegetable alkali”. There are several types of alkaloids incorporated in plants and each one of them has a different chemical nature. However, all of them contain a copious amount of biological nitrogen and its derivatives. Alkaloids display an unusual property of acting directly on your central nervous system including those big networks of nervous pathways. Herbs are made up of several types of alkaloids, many of which are different in their chemical structure and nature of action. Some of the well recognized alkaloids are:

• Pyrrolidine classes of alkaloids are possibly the most potent of all alkaloids and some of the examples of herbs that contain this alkaloid are Henbane, Datura, Belladona and Bittersweet. Other examples are herbs like Cocaine producing plants.
• Pyridine or Piperidine class of alkaloids is essentially Vitamin B in nature and they are derived from plants like tobacco and Lobelia. These alkaloids are classified as nervous system stimulants and blocking agents.

Apart from these two major alkaloids, there are several other alkaloids that are very active in nature and potent in their composition.

Many herbal alkaloids, with their poisonous and psychological effects, could be used as effective medicines and drugs in curing some diseases and ailments. Narcotic alkaloids like morphine and codeine are effective medical agents, while quinine, nicotine and caffeine are potent psycho-stimulants and mood enhancers.