Toxic
Effect:
appetite stimulating, digestive stimulating, diuretic, nerve stimulating
Areas of application:
Paralytic conditions, especially of the legs, whooping cough, asthma, intermittent fever, cholera, menstrual problems, rabies, paralysis
Plant parts used:
Bark, seeds
Collection time:
-
To find:
In Southeast Asia, India and northern Australia.
Ingredients:
Indole alkaloids: strychnine, brucine, vomicin; Iridoid glycoside loganin, bitter substances, choline
Other:
🛑 The seeds of the nut tree contain the highly toxic strychnine. The inhabitants of Southeast Asia knew about its effect and used the powdered seeds for fishing as “toddler bait”.
Just 0.02 grams of the powdered seed leads to acute strychnine poisoning with sudden cramps of the skeletal muscles.
Because of the undesirable side effects, we no longer use the emetic nut except in homeopathy!