Synonym: Belladonna leaves, Belladonnae folium, Deadly night shade leaf, European belladonna
Biological source: It consist of dried leaves, flowering tops or other aerial parts of European belladonna Atropa belladona Linn or Indian belladonna Atropa acuminata Royle.
It is also collected in mixture form of both species when the plants exist in flowering condition. It contains not less than 0.3 to 0.5 percent of total alkaloid hyoscyamine.
Traditionally the British pharmacopoeia drug has consisted of all the aerial part (belladona herb) but under the European requirement there is a limit (3%) of stem with a
diameter exceeding 5mm.
Family: Solanaceae
Geographical source: It is indigenous to England and other European countries. It also found in India (western Himalayan region from Shimla to Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh). It mainly occurs in Jammu and Sind forest and valley of Chinab.
Cultivation and collection: It was introduced in London pharmacopoeia (1809) but the
root was not used in Britain until a liniment prepared from it.
The Plant of deadly night shade Atropa belladona is a perennial herb which attains a height of about 1.5m. The flowers appear about the beginning of June. They are solitary,
shortly stalked, drooping and about 2.5 cm long.
Morphological characters: The drug consists of leaf and the other smaller stems, the latter seldom exceeding 5mm diameter, together with flowers and fruits.
Colour:
o Leaf- Greenish or brownish green
o Flowers- Purplish to Yellowish brown
o Fruits- Greenish to brownish in colour
Odour : Slight and characteristics
Taste : Bitter and acrid
Size : Leaves are 5 − 25 cm × 2.5 − 12 cm
Flower corolla 2.5 cm long and 1.5 cm wide
Fruits about 10 cm in diameter
Shape : Leaves: Ovate, lanceolate to broadly ovate, brittle
Flowers: Campanulate, 5 small reflexed lobes of corolla
Fruits: Berries, sub-globular in shape with numerous flat seeds
Chemical constituents: The drug from Atropa belladona contains 0.3-0.6 percent alkaloids. The chief alkaloid is Hyoscyamine, small quantities of volatile bases such as
pyridine and N-methyl pyrroline are present.
Uses: Belladona leaves are mainly used for internal preparations which uses as sedative and to check secretion. The root preparation mainly used externally as an parasympatholytic drug whose anticholinergic properties are used to reduce secretion such as sweat, saliva and gastric juice and reduces spasm in intestinal griping due to strong purgative action.