So as the stories go, without treatment about 4 deadly nightshade berries can kill a child, 10 for an adult. A lot of very toxic plants are bitter, but these berries aren’t, which is part of the trouble—you don’t immediately know you misjudged your meal. Apparently they’re actually quite sweet.
And anyone who knows me can attest that I have a terrible sweet tooth.
All this is to say I’m very curious and should not be left unsupervised.
Transcript under the cut.
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Solanaceae: a family of beautiful women and green potatoes
Nightshades, more properly called Solanaceae, are a diverse family of plants that include tomatoes, eggplants, tobacco, petunias, and belladonna. Many Solanaceae species produce alkaloids—a class of nitrogen-containing organic molecules—which cause the reputation that the word “nightshade” carries.
There are four notable Solanaceae alkaloids:
(1) Solanine: Causes gastrointestinal and neurological distress; responsible for the warnings against eating green potatoes
(2) Nicotine: Found notably in tobacco, but in trace amounts in other edible Solanaceae species
(3) Capsaicin: Gives peppers their “heat”
(4) While the above alkaloids can be toxic in high enough doses, tropanes are the true danger.
The most deadly Solanaceae members—belladonna, angel trumpets, mandrake, and Jimson weed, to name a few—contain high levels of tropanes like atropine, scopolamine, and hyoscyamine. These three tropanes are also anticholinergics, which means that they block the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. This affects muscle movements in several organs, including the heart, lungs, and gastrointestinal tract. In controlled doses, these effects can treat issues from motion sickness to low heart rates to Parkinson’s disease, and can even reverse poisonings caused by some insecticides and nerve agents. But at higher doses the aklaloids become toxic, causing an elevated heart rate, fevers, hallucinations, delirium, and respiratory failure.
[Illustrated at right: Atropa belladonna. A green stem of a plant, showing dark berries, purple cup-like flowers, and buds.]
Illustration caption: Atropa belladonna, commonly known as deadly nightshade or just belladonna. It is the most famously toxic member of Solanaceae, used for centuries in cosmetics, medicine, and murder. The name belladonna means “beautiful woman”, in reference to women who used the plant to dilate their pupils to appear more alluring. The alkaloid responsible, atropine, is still used to dilate the eyes of ophthalmology patients.