Commercial, Health and Medicinal Benefits from Poisonous Plants

Although poisonous plants are harmful to animals (including us – humans), there are several health, medicinal

and commercial benefits that we can acquire from these plant species.

1. Solanum linnaeanum

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Commonly known as Apple of Sodom, this is a species of poisonous plant bearing tomato-like fruit native to South

Africa and considered to be an invasive species in Australia, and New Zealand.

Health and medicinal benefits:

• An infusion of its stem and its root in sugarcane alcohol (cachaca) is used as an aperitif or a digestif.
• Tea made from Solanun linnaeanum is used as a cardiovascular tonic.
• The tea is good for stimulating appetite, liver, and spleen.
• The tea is effective against digestive problems.
• The tea is good for its diuretic, hypoglycemic, antianemic, febrifugal, and cicatrizant properties.
• It is used for treating infections of the skin, like acne.
• Solbec Pharmaceuticals has developed Coramsine, a 1:1 mixture of solamargine and solasonine, alkaloids extracted from Solanum linnaeanum that has been tested in patients with advanced solid tumors.

2. Sambucus nigra

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This plant species is native to Europe, Asia and Africa and commonly called just Elder or Elderberry, but also

Black Elder, European Elder, European Elderberry, European Black Elderberry, Common Elder, or Elder Bush.

This plant is used as a medicinal plant and also used as an ornamental plant. All parts of the plant except for the

flowers and ripe berries (but including the ripe seeds) are poisonous; containing the cyanogenic glycoside

sambunigrin. The bark contains calcium oxalate crystals.

Health, medicinal and commercial benefits:

• Stem, bark, leaves, flowers, fruits, root extracts are used to treat bronchitis, cough, upper respiratory cold infections, fever.
• In Beerse, Belgium, a variety of Jenever called Beers Vlierke is made from the berries.
• The flower heads are commonly used in infusions, giving a very common refreshing drink.
• Commercially the flower heads are sold as elderflower cordial.
• The berries are used to make jam, jelly, chutney and cordial. They go particularly well with blackberries and with apples – for example in apple pie.
• The strong-smelling foliage was used in the past, tied to a horse’s mane, to keep flies away while riding.

3. Solanum nigrum

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This species of poisonous plant has a long list of common names like Black Nightshade, Duscle, Garden

Nightshade, Hound’s Berry, Petty Morel, Small-fruited black nightshade, popolo, Sunberry and Wonderberry.

Health and medicinal benefits:

• In India, the berries are casually grown and eaten.
• In Ethiopia, the ripe berries are picked and eaten by children.
• During famines all affected people would eat berries.
• The leaves are collected and cooked in salty water and consumed like any other vegetable.
• Farmers used it as a food source until their crops are ready.
• The plant has a long history of medicinal usage, dating back to ancient Greece.

4. Solanum mammosum

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This toxic plant is commonly known as nipplefruit, titty fruit or Cow’s Udder. It is a close relative of the tomato. The

fruit is poisonous.

Medicinal and Commercial Benefits:

• It is used as a medicine for athlete’s foot.
• It is used to relieve irritability and restlessness.
• It is sometimes used as a detergent.
• The fruit is grown for ornamental purposes, in part because of its resemblance to a human breast.
• It is imported to Taiwan for use as a religious offering.

5. Phytolacca americana

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This poisonous plant which is commonly known as American Pokeweed is a large, shrubby perennial growing up

to 10 feet in height native to eastern North America. Also known as American nightshade, cancer jalap, coakum,

garget, inkberry, pigeon berry, pocan bush, poke root, pokeweed, redweed, scoke, red ink plant and chui xu

shang lu.

Parts of the plant in different stages can be used as food, medicine or poison.

• Anti-cancer: The anticancer effects appear to work primarily based upon anti-tumor and anti-inflammatory properties, along with immune stimulant functions.
• Anti-inflammatory constituents include saponins in poke root and triterpenes in the berries: alpha spinasterol, ascorbic acid, calcium oxalate, caryophylline, isoquercitin, jialigonic acid, and oleanolic acid. Immune stimulant constituents include astragalin, ascorbic acid, beta carotene, phosphorus and oleanolic acid.
• Anti-AIDS: Pokeweed antiviral protein (a Single Chain Ribosome Inactivating Protein or SCRIP) is being considered as a potent inhibitor of human immunodeficiency for AIDS There are also well-known three different pokeweed antiviral protein (PAP)isoforms from leaves of Phytolacca Americana (PAP-I from spring leaves, PAPII from early summer leaves, and PAP-III from late summer leaves) that cause concentration-dependent depurination of genomic HIV-1 RNA.
• Antiviral: PAP, oleanolic acid, ascorbic acid, tannin, mitogen.
• In addition: Betanin and oleanolic acid are antiperoxidative and the vitamins plus caryophylline and oleanolic acid are antioxidant. Astragalin, isoquercitin and caryophylline are aldose-reductase-inhibitors.

6. Kalanchoe pinnata

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This species of poisonous plant is commonly known as the Air Plant, Life Plant, Miracle Leaf and the Goethe Plant

and is a succulent plant native to Madagascar.

Health and medicinal benefits:

• Kalanchoe species are used to treat infections, rheumatism and inflammation.
• Kalanchoe extracts also have immunosuppressive effects.
• In Trinidad and Tobago, Kalanchoe pinnata is used as treatment for hypertension.
• It is used as a treatment for kidney stones in India.
• Bufadienolide compounds isolated from Kalanchoe pinnata include byrophillin A which showed strong anti-tumor promoting activity.

7. Narcissus or Daffodils

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All Narcissus varieties contain the alkaloid poison lycorine, mostly in the bulb but also in the leaves.

Medicinal/Health Benefits:

• The roots of narcissus are used I treating wounds.
• The ethanol extract of the bulbs is effective in treatment of abdominal constriction.

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8. Colchicum autumnale

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The leaves, corms, and seeds of this plant, commonly called “autumn crocus” or “naked ladies contain the

alkaloid colchicine.

Medicinal Benefit:

• Its roots and seeds are used to treat gout.

9. Veratrum nigrum

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Black Hellebore is a medicinal plant and poisonous plant native to Asia and Europe. The roots of V. nigrum and V.

schindleri have been used in Chinese herbalism.

Health benefits:

• Li lu (its common name in China) is used internally as a powerful emetic of last resort.
• Topically to kill external parasites, treat tinea and scabies, and stop itching.

10. Podophyllum peltatum

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The root of mayapple (the common name of this plant) is poisonous.

Health and medicinal benefits;

• The fruit is edible, in moderate amounts, only when it is ripened in late summer.
• The plant contains podophyllotoxin, which is used as a cytostacti and topically in the treatment of genital warts.

11. Fumaria officinalis

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Common Fumitory or Earth smoke is a poisonous plant. The fruit is an achene. It contains alkaloids, potassium

salts, and tannins. It is also a major source of fumaric acid.

Health and medicinal benefits:

• It is used to remove skin blemishes.
• It is used to treat skin disease, and conjunctivitis.
• It is used to cleanse the kidneys.

12. Solanum aviculare

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Poroporo is the common name of this plant in New Zealand while in Australia, it is known as Kangaroo. The

berries of poroporo are poisonous. The leaves and unripe fruit of S. aviculare contain the toxic alkaloid

solasidine.

Commercial and medicinal benefits;

• S.aviculare is cultivated in Russia and Hungary for the solasidine which is extracted and used as a base material for the production of steroid contraceptives.
• The plant is used as a rootstock for grafting eggplant.

13. Solanum aculeastrum

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The berries of Sodaapple nightshade, goat-apple, bitter-apple, or poison apple contain high levels of the

poisonous alkaloid soalnine. The species name aculeastrum refers to the thorns that adorn most parts of the

shrub.

Health, medicinal and commercial used:

• Goat-apple is used as a hedge and living barrier for containing livestock.
• The sodaapple is often used as a soap replacement, as it is high in saponin.
• Traditional Zulu practices use the fruit - fresh, boiled, or charred - to treat cancer, toothaches, and ringworm.

14. Datura metel

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Commonly known as Angel’s Trumpet, Devil’s trumpet, metel, downy thorn-apple and, along with Datura

stramonium, zombie cucumber is native to China, India and South East Asia. This poisonous plant is commonly

cultivated as a garden plant in North America and Europe. The leaves or juice of it if consumed make the person

dumb (unable to speak).

Health and medicinal benefits:

• D. metel is one of the fundamental herbs used in traditional Chinese medicine.
• The dry flower, particularly the violet colored, if rolled and used like cigar, will help to relieve the asthma or wheezing like symptoms

15. Datura innoxia

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This toxic plant is known with a variety of common names like Thorn-apple, downy thorn-apple, Indian-apple,

moonflower, sacred datura, toloatzin and toloache. It is native to the Americas. Datura innoxia, like other Datura

species, contains the highly toxic alkaloid atropine, hyoscine (scopolamine), and hyoscyamine.

Medicinal benefits:

• The Aztecs used the plant for many therapeutic purposes, such as poultices for wounds where it acts as an anodyne.
• This highly poisonous plant is used also for effective pain relief in antiquity.

16. Solanum dulcamara

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This poisonous plant species is known to a variety of common name like bittersweet, bitter nightshade, blue

bindweed, climbing nightshade, fellenwort, felonwood, poisonberry, poisonflower, scarlet berry, snakeberry,

trailing bittersweet, trailing nightshade, violet bloom or, woody nightshade. Bittersweet is used in naturopathy

and herbalism.

Health and medicinal benefits:

• Its main usage is for conditions that have an impact on the skin, mucous membrane and the membrane (synovial membrane) around the joints.
• Bittersweet is used for treating herpes and allergies.

17. Dicentra cucullaria

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Dutchman’s breeches, the common name of this poisonous plant, are native to North America. Dutchman’s

breeches contain several alkaloids that may have effects on the brain and heart.

Health benefits:

• This plant is used for treating syphilis, skin conditions and as a blood purifier.

These plants are poisonous yet they provide lots of benefits to mankind. This is a manifestation that everything

exists for a purpose.