ECON.

Bio 4C  When chewed, coca acts as a mild

stimulant and suppresses hunger, thirst,
PSYCHOACTIVE PLANTS pain, and fatigue.
 Absorption of cocaine from the leaf is
 are plants that people ingest in the form of much less rapid and efficient than from the
simple or complex preparations in order to purified forms of cocaine, and it does not
affect the mind or alter the state of cause the euphoric and psychoactive
consciousness. effects associated with use of the drug.
 Stimulants  Some proponents have claimed that
 Hallucinogens cocaine itself is not an active ingredient
 Depressants when unprocessed. Coca leaf is chewed or
brewed as an infusion.
PLANT AS STIMULANTS  studies have shown that small but
 excite and enhance mental alertness measurable amounts of cocaine are
 and physical activity present in the bloodstream after
 reduce fatigue consumption of coca tea. Addiction or
 suppress hunger other deleterious effects from the
consumption of the leaf in its natural form
Coca (Erythroxylum coca) have not been documented.

 source of cocaine
 relieves hunger and fatigue by chewing the
leaves
 coca tea is used for altitude sickness
 Main ingredient of coca cola
 TRIVIA;
 When launched, Coca-Cola's two key
ingredients were cocaine and caffeine.
 The cocaine was derived from the coca
leaf and the caffeine from kola nut (also
spelled "cola nut" at the time), leading to
the name Coca-Cola. In 1902 Coca-Cola’
name was change to Coke
Pharmacology
 The pharmacologically active ingredient of
coca is the alkaloid cocaine, which is found
in 0.8% in fresh leaves.
 Besides cocaine, the coca leaf contains a
number of other alkaloids, including
methylecgonine cinnamate,
benzoylecgonine, truxilline,
hydroxytropacocaine, tropacocaine,
ecgonine, cuscohygrine,
dihydrocuscohygrine, nicotine and
hygrine.
MEDICAL BENEFITS
 Traditional medical uses of coca are
foremost as a stimulant to overcome
fatigue, hunger, and thirst. It is considered
particularly effective against altitude
sickness.
 It also is used as an anesthetic to alleviate
the pain of headache, rheumatism, wounds
and sores, etc.
 Before stronger anesthetics were available,
it was also used for broken bones,
childbirth, and during trephining operations
on the skull.
 Cocaine constricts blood vessels, the
action of coca also serves to oppose
bleeding, and coca seeds were used for
nosebleeds
 Cocaine medicinally a potent constrictor of
local blood vessel
 Local anesthetic that blocks nerve
conduction.
 Powerful stimulant that inhibits dopamine
reuptake, prolonging a sense of well –
being
 The cocaine found in coca can cause an
increase in brain activity and have
numbing (anesthetic) effects. Cocaine is
highly addictive
Coffee( Coffea arabica)

 Coffee is made by roasted seeds
 main stimulant is caffeine
 off drowsiness
 restoring alertness
 as a laxative
Work and effects
 heart burns problems
 mineral absorption
 Acrylamide in coffee
 *Well-roasted, dark, fresh coffee beans
have likely to have the lowest amount.
 Stress and tension
Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum)
 as a relaxant , depressant or tranquilizer
 nicotine main stimulant
 An American plant (Nicotiana tabacum) of
the Nightshade family, much used for
smoking and chewing, and as snuff.
 As a medicine, it is narcotic, emetic, and
cathartic/purgative
 Tobacco has a strong, peculiar smell, and
an acrid taste.
Pharmacology
 The nicotine alkaloid is rapidly absorbed
from all mucous membranes, lungs and
skin, but more commonly enters through
the lung alveoli, quickly reaching the heart
and brain receptors, and largely eliminated
by oxidation through the liver (80 to 90%),
a small amount metabolized in the kidneys
and lungs. Elimination half-life is 2 hours.
 (elimination half life is the length of time
required for the concentration of a
particular substance (typically a drug) to
decrease to half of its starting dose in the
body)
 All parts are poisonous except dried ripe
seeds.
 The dried leaves (tambaku) contain one to
eight percent of nicotine and are used in
the form of smoke or snuff or chewed.
 The leaves contain active principles, which
are the toxic alkaloids nicotine and
anabasine (which are equally toxic);
nornicotine (less toxic). Nicotine is a
colorless, volatile, bitter, hygroscopic liquid
alkaloid.
Uses of Tobacco
 Juice of leaves is sedative, antispasmodic
and a powerful insecticide.
 The ashes, mixed with oil, are applied to
bleeding sores.
 Leaves have been used for pain and
rheumatic swelling, syphilitic nodes and
skin diseases.
History in Medical Use
 Reported as curative for skin ailments,
goiter, broken limbs, headaches, ulcers,
worms, syphilis and dropsy by Jean
Liebault (1536-1596).
 In Europe, first reported as a remedy for
wound healing and headaches by Jean
Nicot Sieur de Villemain (1530-1600)
 Nicolas Monardes of Spain advocated its
used as an enema and tobacco syrup for
asthma and coughs.
HALLUCINOGENS
 Produce changes in perception
 Often induces dreamlike state
Morning Glory ( Ipomoea violacea)
 Seed contain an alkaloid, D-lysergic acid
(LSD is a synthetic form)
 Causes hallucinations similar to peyote
Effects
 quiet and dreamy state
 new insights
 great interest in the things around them
and a dreamy awareness
Marijuana (Cannabis sativa)
 Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) formed when
plant is dried
 Common form here is an escapee used for
hemp with 0.2 to 1% THC
 Asian forms contain 3.4 to 6% THC
 Treatment for nausea and glaucoma
Pharmacology
 The major psychoactive chemical
compound in cannabis is
tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).
 At least 66 other cannabinoids are also
present in cannabis, including cannabidiol
(CBD), cannabinol (CBN) and
tetrahydrocannabivarin (THCV) among
many other, which are believed to result in
different effects than those of THC alone.
Medical Benefits
 HIV/AIDS
 Investigators at Columbia
University published clinical trial data in
2007 showing that HIV/AIDS patients who
inhaled cannabis four times daily
experienced substantial increases in food
intake with little evidence of discomfort and
no impairment of cognitive performance.
 They concluded that smoked marijuana
has a clear medical benefit in HIV-positive
patients

 Alzheimer's disease
 Research done by the Scripps
Research Institute in California shows that
the active ingredient in marijuana, THC,
prevents the formation of deposits in the
brain associated with Alzheimer's disease.
 THC was found to prevent an enzyme
called acetylcholinesterase from
accelerating the formation of "Alzheimer
plaques" in the brain more effectively than
commercially marketed drugs.
 THC is also more effective at blocking
clumps of protein that can inhibit memory
and cognition in Alzheimer’s patients, as
reported in Molecular Pharmaceutics
EFFECTS
 Constituents
 Tetrahydronicotinic acid derivatives and
we have shown that nipecotic acid,
'hexahydronicotinic acid', is a potent
inhibitor of the uptake of the central
inhibitory transmitter Nipecotic acid
potentiates the depressant
Peyote (Lophora williamsii)
 Eaten as mescal buttons or dried portion of
plant
 Active compounds are mescaline and
other alkaloids
DEPRESSANTS
 dull mental awareness
 reduce physical performance
 induce sleep or trance-like state
Opium Poppy (Papaver somniferum )
 Opium
 It is a well known fact that the opium poppy
is a very powerful plant, and its superior
powers have been known even from the
year 3000 BC, at which time it was known
as the ‘joy plant’ by the Sumerians who
apparently used it quite frequently.
Pharmacology
 In 1804, morphine from poppy became one
of the first alkaloids in the history of
chemistry to be isolated successfully
 Native to Western Asia, the opium poppy is
today cultivated all across the world, as a
real source of morphine and codeine.
 Codeine -is an opiate used for its analgesic,
antitussive, and antidiarrheal properties.
 Morphine - is a potent opiate analgesic
medication and is considered to be the
trototypical opioid.
Constituents
 Opium poppy contains over 40 opium
alkaloids, including codeine (about 1%),
morphine (up to 20%), narcotine (about
5%), and papaverine (about 1%). It also
contains meconic acid, albumin, mucilage,
sugars, resin, and wax.
 Almost all the alkaloids of opium poppy are
found to have a well established
therapeutic action.
 Morphine is used as a powerful analgesic
to relieve pain, especially in cases of
terminal illness, while codeine, a milder
analgesic, is often used for milder pains
like headaches, and for the symptomatic
treatment of diarrhea.
 Opium is strongly addictive.
Morphine Mechanism of Action

 impact both the CNS (brain/spinal column)
and the peripheral nervous system
 enter body through: oral ingestion,
injection, absorption through membranes
 psychoactive plants have chemicals
that inhibit (antagonists) or mimic (agonists)
the behavior of neurotransmitters.
Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea)
Pharmacology
 A group of medicines extracted from
foxglove plants are called Digitalin.
 The use of Digitalis purpurea extract
containing cardiac glycosides for the
treatment of heart conditions was first
described in the English speaking medical
literature by William Withering, in
1785,which is considered the beginning of
modern therapeutics.
 It is used to increase cardiac contractility (it
is a positive inotrope) and as an
antiarrhythmic agent to control the heart
rate, particularly in the irregular (and often
fast) atrial fibrillation.
Contituents of foxglove

 Foxglove contains cardiac glycosides
(including digoxin; digitoxin, and
lanatosides), anthraquinones, flavonoids,
and saponins.
 Digitoxin rapidly strengthens the heartbeat
but is excreted very slowly.
 Digoxin is preferred as a long-term
medication.

Ergot Claviceps purpurea
 Ergot or ergot fungi refers to a group of
fungi of the genus Claviceps.
 The most prominent member of this group
is Claviceps purpurea.
 This fungus grows on rye and related
plants, and produces alkaloids that can
cause ergotism in humans and other
mammals who consume grains
contaminated with its fruiting structure
(called ergot sclerotium).
Pharmacology
 The ergot sclerotium contains high
concentrations (up to 2% of dry mass) of
the alkaloid ergotamine, a complex
molecule consisting of a tripeptide-derived
cyclol-lactam ring connected via amide
linkage to a lysergic acid (ergoline) moiety,
and other alkaloids of the ergoline group
that are biosynthesized by the fungus.
 Ergot alkaloids have a wide range of
biological activities including effects on
circulation and neurotransmission.
 Medical Benefits
Ergotamines constrict blood vessels and
cause the muscle of the uterus to contract.
 Used and very useful for the treatment of
migraine
 They have also been used and misused as
abortifacients (agent for abortion).
MASTICATORIES
  In the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia
Betel and China they are used to relieve
toothache. In the Philippines, they are
used specifically as a stimulant and was
believed to strengthen the teeth and gums.

 A green leafy vine growing as a ground

cover or small climber, very similar in
growth habits to pepper.
 The betel leaf plant is a branching vine,
that may climb as high as 10-15ft, although
it often grows as an understory ground
cover.

Betel (Piper betle)

 A green leafy vine growing as a ground

 cover or small climber, very similar in
growth
 habits to pepper.
 The betel leaf plant is a branching vine,
that
 may climb as high as 10-15ft, although it
often
 grows as an understory ground cover.

Pharmacology
 Betel nut chewing is a custom or ritual
that dates back thousands of years from
Asia to the Pacific, a tradition very much a
part of modern life in many parts of the
Coral Triangle.
 This custom is very much alive that it is
hard to ignore betel nut chewing if you visit
a country such as Papua New Guinea
when the first thing you notice while talking
to a local is the bright red-stained teeth
and lips of the men and women.
 The chewing of three items betel nut,
mustard stick dipped in lime powder acts
as a mild stimulant which help locals
suppress their hunger, reduce stress and
heighten their senses

Medicinal Benefits