Erythroxylum coca Health Dictionary

  1. Health Encyclopedia
  2. Erythroxylum Coca

Erythroxylum Coca: From 1 Different Sources

Lam.

Family: Erythroxylaceae.

Habitat: Indigenus to Peru and Bolivia, introduced and experimentally cultivated in Assam, West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

English: Coca, Cocaine Plant.

Siddha/Tamil: Sivadari.

Action: Mydriatic and toxic. (Coca leaf extract, after removing cocaine, is used as a flavouring agent for soft drinks. Maximum use level: 0.055%.) Coca leaves contain a large number of alkaloids including cocaine, tropa- cocaine, cinnamoylcocaine, truxillines and benzoylecgonine. (alkaloid content varies from 0.5 to 1.5%). The bark and seeds also contain cocaine.

Coca is subject to restrictions in most countries.

Not to be confused with Cocoa seed (Theobroma cacao.)
Health Source: Indian Medicinal Plants
Author: Health Dictionary

Cocaine

Coca leaves are obtained from two South American plants, Erythroxylum coca and Erythroxylum truxillense, and contain an alkaloid, cocaine. Cocaine has marked effects as a stimulant, and, locally applied, as an anaesthetic by paralysing nerves of sensation. The dried leaves have been used from time immemorial by the South American Indians, who chew them mixed with a little lime. Their e?ect is to dull the mucous surfaces of mouth and stomach, with which the saliva, produced by chewing them, comes into contact – thus blunting, for long periods, all feeling of hunger. The cocaine, being absorbed, stimulates the central nervous system so that all sense of fatigue and breathlessness vanishes for a time. It was by the use of coca that the Indian post-runners of South America were able to achieve their extraordinary feats of endurance. The continued use of the drug, however, results in emaciation, loss of memory, sleeplessness and general breakdown. DEPENDENCE on cocaine or a derivative, ‘crack’, is now a serious social problem in many countries.

Uses Before the serious effects that result from its habitual use were realised, the drug was sometimes used by hunters, travellers and others to relieve exhaustion and breathlessness in climbing mountains and to dull hunger. Derivatives of cocaine are used as locally applied analgesics via sprays or injections in dentistry and for procedures in the ear, nose and throat. Because of its serious side-effects and the risk of addiction, cocaine is a strictly controlled Class A drug which can be prescribed only by a medical practitioner with a Home O?ce licence to do so.... cocaine

Erythroxylum Monogynum

Roxb.

Synonym: E. indicum (DC.) Bedd.

Family: Erythroxylaceae.

Habitat: South India, up to 1,000 m.

English: Bastard Sandal, Red Cedar.

Ayurvedic: Kattuchandanam (Kerala).

Siddha/Tamil: Devadaram.

Folk: Gandh-giri (Maharashtra).

Action: Leaf—diaphoretic, stimulant, diuretic, stomachic. A decoction is used for malarial fever. Bark and wood—febrifuge.

The wood yields diterpenes, including monogynol, OH-ogynol, devada- rool; d-hibaene, its epoxide and an olefinic hydrocarbon.

Biological activity of the plant is hypothermic and CNS active.... erythroxylum monogynum

Coca Leaves

Health Inca tea. Peruvian tea. Bolivian tea. Erythroxylum coca, Lam. Leaves. Leaves contain a minimal amount of cocaine.

A traditional remedy to prevent fatigue, to elevate mood, assuage hunger, increase pulse rate, stimulate the brain and nerves, and to enable great feats of endurance to be performed. Not on open sale; its use is discouraged. South Americans have been drinking coca leaf tea for hundreds of years apparently with no ill-effects and possibly some medical benefits. Natives drink 1-2 cups or more daily, as infused from decocainised leaves. Medical use: to assist withdrawal from cocaine addiction. Local anaesthetic. CD. (Misuse of Drugs Act 1973) ... coca leaves

Cocaine Addiction

To assist withdrawal from: see COCA LEAVES. ... cocaine addiction

Health encyclopedia icon Health Encyclopedia

Recent Searches