Belladonna, highly toxic and potentially deadly plantcontains alkaloids with great healing power, which explains why derivatives of these are integrated into useful medicines to treat bronchial, liver, nephritic and cardiac conditions. But the use of these alkaloids must be done under strict medical control and in minimum doses.

What is belladonna

Belladonna (Atropa belladonna L.) is a herbaceous plant that can reach a height of one and a half or even two meters. It is robust, with large, ovate and sharp leaves, with a glossy appearance, and beautiful axillary flowerstubular bell-shaped, purple-brown in color. The fruit is a black berry When ripe – green when immature – spherical, shiny, inserted into the sepals, which contain several seeds inside. These berries are very toxic, and in no case should they be consumed.

Belladonna appears in forest clearings, forest margins, ravines and laughs. It is distributed throughout western Europe to the Balkans. In the Iberian Peninsula it extends through the northeast and north, although it is not very common. It is planted in medicinal nurseries and some gardens.

Belladonna belongs to the nightshade family, the tomato family, which, as is known, includes quite a few toxic species. It is also known as «bastard tobacco.»

Taking belladonna was a risky bet in ancient times, and it is said that some women, in medieval Italy, consumed it to beautify their eyes, due to the mydriatic effect that he exercises, and that dilates the pupils exaggeratedly.

This effect was mainly due to an alkaloid, atropine. As explained in the renewed Dioscorides, “once the pupil is dilated, the eye produces unfocused, blurred images, without it being possible to recover ocular mobility until after some time.”

Active ingredients of belladonna

The leaves and roots of belladonna are used, and to a lesser extent the flowers. The fruits contain excess toxicity. Blooms during the summer.

The aerial parts contain different tropane alkaloidslike the hyoscyaminethe predominant one in the fresh plant, atropine (dominant in the dry plant), norhioscyamine, norarthropinesters such as scopolamine, hyoscine, flavonoids, hydroxycoumarins; In the root there is also atropine, umbelliferone, hiscyamine, coumarins and bellardine, among other active ingredients.

Toxic effects of belladonna

The entire plant is very toxic, and especially the fruits, that can be harvested by mistake and consumed, with fatal consequences.

Belladonna has a parasymcolytic and mydriatic effect, and can paralyze the central nervous system in moderate or severe poisoning.

The belladonna poisoning manifests with symptoms such as dry mouth, quickly followed by dizziness, vomiting, blurred vision, mydriasis (dilation of the pupils), tachycardia and later, if the poisoning is strong, seizures, spasms, confusion, and hallucinations. In extreme cases, can lead to suffocation, difficulty breathing and death.

It should be noted that the consumption of just 3 berries for a child would cause your death in a matter of minutes and that a dozen are enough to kill an adult of normal weight.

What is belladonna used for?

Atropine and other alkaloids of belladonna hThey have been part of numerous medications bronchodilators, vasoconstrictors and analgesics.

It is also considered febrifuge, anti-inflammatory, anti-asthmatic, antispasmodic, diuretic, digestive and analgesic externally.

Although its use is totally discouraged, There has been a very measured and controlled use of belladonna as a bronchodilatorin bronchial spasms and asthmatic attacks; to reduce inflammation of the upper respiratory tract in pharyngitis and laryngitis; to relieve pain in renal colic; as mydriatic, to help dilate the pupils in ophthalmological examinations; for hypersweating and, traditionally, to control involuntary muscle movements or reflexes, among other uses.

It is also a quite powerful external analgesicused to reduce pain and inflammation in rheumatic processes and neuralgic pain.

Contraindications of belladonna

Due to its high toxicity, derived from its content in different active alkaloids, Experts completely advise against its use internally.. It should only be used under medical prescription.

It is highly contraindicated in case of glaucoma (due to the aforementioned mydriatic effect), kidney, liver or heart failure, in case of high blood pressure, in case of gastroesophageal reflux, colic, irritable bowel syndrome and neurological diseases such as Parkinson’s.

How to use belladonna

Externally, the decoction has been used for baths, scrubs and massages against muscular and rheumatic pain. It should not be used under any circumstances, as a precaution, in the form of a rinse or mouthwash.

Belladonna in homeopathy

Its most frequent use is in homeopathic doses – marked by the homeopathic doctor – for the treatment of Parkinson’s, acute bronchitis, other respiratory infections, menstrual pain, urinary incontinence, headaches, gastric spasms and lack of sleep, among other indications.

By Jordi Cebrián, journalist specialized in phytotherapy