What are the active constituents of Datura?
Datura’s effects are do to the presence of tropane alkaloids including scopolamine (hyoscine), atropine, aposcopolamine (apohyoscine), apoatropine, tropine, meteloidine and over twenty others. Typically young plants contain primarily scopolamine while older plants contain primarily hyoscamine, though the specifics vary by species. Tropanes act as muscarinic antagonists which block neurotransmission of acetycholine in the parasympathetic nervous system, thus leaving the body in a state of tremendous exitation. The main physical “side effects” of Datura ingestion including dry mucous membranes, flushing, rashes, hypertension, tachycardia, bronchodilation, blurred vision, dizziness, and vertigo are due to muscarinic antagonism. Incidentally, muscarinic receptors were named for muscarine, a chemical found in the mushroom Amanita muscaria, whose intoxication exhibits some similar effects to that of Datura. The two plants are often classed together as “delerient” drugs.
