Argemone mexicana

Argemone mexicana
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta
Class:	Magnoliopsida
Order:	Ranunculales
Family:	Papaveraceae
Genus:	Argemone
Species:	A. mexicana
Binomial name
Argemone mexicana

Argemone mexicana (Mexican poppy, Mexican prickly poppy, cardo or cardosanto) is a species of poppy found in Mexico and now widely naturalized in the United States, India and Ethiopia. An annual herb with bright yellow sap, it has been used by many people including those in its native area, the Natives of the western US and parts of Mexico.^[1]

Chemical constituents

The seeds contain 22–36% of a pale yellow non-edible oil, called argemone oil or katkar oil, which contains the toxic alkaloids sanguinarine and dihydrosanguinarine. Four quaternary isoquinoline alkaloids, dehydrocorydalmine, jatrorrhizine, columbamine, and oxyberberine, have been isolated from the whole plant of Argemone mexicana.^[2]

Toxin rendering

The seeds resemble the seeds of Brassica nigra (mustard). As a result, mustard can be adulterated by argemone seeds, rendering it poisonous. Several significant instances of katkar poisoning have been reported in India, Fiji, South Africa and other countries. The last major outbreak in India occurred in 1998. 1% adulteration of mustard oil by argemone oil has been shown to cause clinical disease.^[3]

Medicinal uses

The Seri of Sonora, Mexico use the entire plant both fresh and dried. An infusion is made to relieve kidney pain, to help expel a torn placenta, and in general to help cleanse the body after parturition.^[1]

When the Spanish arrived in Sonora they added this plant to their pharmacopia and called it cardosanto, which should not be mistranslated to blessed thistle (Cnicus benedictus). Use in Hispanic cultures includes as a sedative and analgesiac tea, including for use to help alleviate migrane headaches. The seeds are taken as a laxative.^[4]

The seed-pods secrete a pale-yellow latex substance when cut open. This argemone resin contains berberine and protopine, and is used medicinally as a sedative.^{[citation needed]}

Argemone mexicana is used by traditional healers in Mali to treat malaria.^[5]

Katkar oil poisoning causes epidemic dropsy, with symptoms including extreme swelling, particularly of the legs.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Felger, R. S. and M. B. Moser, 1985, People of the Desert and Sea. University of Arizona Press, Tucson, AZ
2. ^ Singh S. Singh TD. Singh VP. Pandey VB.,"Quaternary alkaloids of Argemone mexicana." Pharmaceutical Biology. 48(2):158-60, 2010 Feb.
3. ^ "Epidemic dropsy". WHO South East Asia Regional Office. http://w3.whosea.org/techinfo/dropsy.htm. Retrieved 2006-11-17. 
4. ^ Moore, M. 1990. Los Remedios: Traditional Herbal Remedies of the Southwest. Museum of New Mexico Press, Santa Fe, NM
5. ^ Willcox ML, Graz B, Falquet J, et al. (2007). "Argemone mexicana decoction for the treatment of uncomplicated falciparum malaria". Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg 101 (12): 1190–1198. doi:10.1016/j.trstmh.2007.05.017. PMID 17920092.