A Review on Datura Stramonium (Solanaceae): Traditional uses, Pharmacological and Toxicological Properties

Abstract

Datura stramonium, known by the common names thorn apple, jimson weed (jimson weed), devil's snare, or devil's trumpet, family Solanaceae. D. stramonium has frequently been employed in traditional medicine to treat a variety of ailments. It has also been used as a hallucinogen (of the anticholinergic/ antimuscarinic, deliriant type). Today, it grows wild in all the world's warm and temperate regions, where it is found along roadsides and at dung-rich livestock enclosures. D. stramonium can be grown from seed, which is sown with several feet between plants. It is sensitive to frost, so should be sheltered during cold weather. One of the primary active agents in Datura is atropine which has been used in traditional medicine for psychoactive effects and recreationally over centuries. The leaves are generally smoked either in a cigarette or a pipe. The Chinese also used it as a form of anesthesia during surgery. The plant has many traditional uses in intermittent fever, wound healing, anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, anti-microbial and anti-asthmatic.
Keywords:  Datura Stramonium,  Solanaceae, Antimuscarinic, Atropine, Anesthesia,