Table of Contents
What’s this
Belladonna (Atropa belladonna) is a perennial herbaceous plant of the Solanaceae family, the same as potatoes, peppers, eggplants, tomatoes and other species normally used as food. There plant of the nightshade can reach up to one meter and eighty in height, developing erect, robust and branched stems that bear large oval, sharp and alternately arranged leaves. The flowers of the nightshade are hanging axillary bluebells, of a purplish brown color and the fruit is a small black and shiny berry. Belladonna is widespread in southern Europe and is found there in the spontaneous state in mountainous and submontane areas, on the edge of woods and in uncultivated land.
Property
Belladonna, like many other nightshades, contains alkaloids. The alkaloids they are often toxic molecules present in plants of the same family such as tobacco, stramonium and mandrake. There is an alkaloid known as atropine in belladonna, as well as small amounts of scopolamine, another alkaloid. In addition to alkaloids, there are flavonoids, minerals and a coumarin known as scopoletol in belladonna.
Atropine and scopolamine have parasympatholytic activity and therefore inhibit the fixation of acetylcholine at the level of peripheral organs and the central nervous system. This action leads to reduction of spars, increased heart rhythm, vasodilation and bronchodilation, inhibition of all secretions (salivary, gastric, lacrimal, bronchial, etc.), paralysis of the ciliary muscles and of the muscles that contract the iris with consequent dilation of the pupils (mydriasis). In high dosages, belladonna causes agitation, disorientation, hallucinations and delusions.
What is it for and how to use it
In the past, the leaves and berries of nightshade were mainly used to suppress body secretions and to reduce spasms. Belladonna-based preparations were traditionally used to combat dry cough, asthma, stomach hyperacidity, constipation and excessive sweating. For this purpose, belladonna was administered orally in the form of mother tincture, powder or fluid extract. Externally, ointments and ointments containing belladonna extracts were used to treat hemorrhoids and to dilate the pupils. This last property was exploited by women during the Renaissance, who used the juice squeezed from the berries to make the eyes more fascinating, a custom from which the name of the plant derives.
Due to the high toxicity of belladonna, its use in herbal medicine has been practically abandoned over time. In fact, it has been estimated that i risks related to the administration of belladonna are less than the benefits and, consequently, it was forbidden to use any part of the belladonna (leaves, flowers, fruits, roots) in the making of food supplements. Although the plant is not allowed in these preparations, atropine is still used today in the eye drops used in eye examinations to dilate the pupil and to paralyze the muscle that allows focusing, so as to make it possible to examine the eye. Scopolamine is also used in the pharmaceutical industry, which uses it to formulate medications antispasmodics, against spasms affecting the gastrointestinal and urinary tract. Scopolamine is also used to make medicines for nausea and vomiting. Externally, belladonna is instead used against muscle and joint pain.
Belladonna, on the other hand, is used in homeopathic medicine to formulate granules and drops recommended for various ailments such as headaches, allergies, inflammations of various kinds, skin problems, abdominal spasms and flu symptoms including fever, cough and cold. It should be emphasized that to date there is insufficient evidence on the efficacy of homeopathic medicine and that remedies of this type could act simply thanks to the placebo effect.
Contraindications and side effects
At therapeutic doses, the alkaloids in belladonna typically do not have side effects relevant except in case of glaucoma, prostate hypertrophy and heart failure situations in which the use of these active ingredients are contraindicated. Furthermore, belladonna should not be used in pregnancy, lactation and children, not even externally.
Regarding the plant of belladonna, all parts of the plant are highly toxic. If ingested, the leaves and berries initially cause digestive problems, tachycardia, dry mucous membranes, mydriasis and other symptoms, leading to seizures, coma and death. Atropa, the name of the plant, derives not by chance from Atropos, which in Greek mythology is the Parca who cuts the thread of life. Particularly dangerous they are the berries, whose ingestion can lead to death even in small quantities. For an adult, the consumption of 10-15 berries is fatal, while in children only two or three berries are enough. It is therefore necessary to place great attention during walks, especially towards the little ones, who can be easily attracted to the black and shiny belladonna berries.
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