Paper Title
Identification and Determination of Concentrations of Some Toxic Alkaloids in Jimsonweed (Daturastramonium L.)
Abstract
Alkaloids are regarded as complex naturally occurring products of plants, and fungi. They possess nitrogen-containing heterocyclic rings, basic, and derived from amino acids. High physiological activity is also a characteristic of alkaloids. This study was aimed to determine the existence and concentrations of some toxic alkaloids inin different parts ofjimsonweed (Daturastramonium L.) of the family Solanaceae. .Stems, leaves and fruits were dried, crushed and then underwent extraction. Solvents used in the extraction were chloroform and acetic acid . Thin layer chromatography (TLC) and GC-MS techniques were alsoadopted in analyzing the alkaloids. The results revealed the presence of atropine, in stems, leaves and fruits of D.stramonium with concentration of 0.03, 0.4 and 0.08 g/g, respectively. Hyoscinewas also found in stems, leaves and fruits with concentration of0.01, 0.02 and 0.2 g/g respectively. Nicotine was found in stems and fruits with concentrations of 0.001 and 0.02 g/g, respectively. This study has opened new horizons to explore new natural poential pesticides from Sudanese indigenous plants and provide important information to avoid toxicity, harmful and adverse effects of these plants to both humans and animals.