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8257401 
Journal Article 
Identification of Atropine and Scopolamine from Datura L. Plant and Market Samples by GC-MS 
Nandini, D; Ravikumar, BS; Amaraneni, , SR; , 
2017 
Yes 
Asian Journal of Chemistry
ISSN: 0970-7077
EISSN: 0975-427X 
Chemical Publishing Co. 
29 
10 
2116-2118 
English 
Datura plant which generally grows as weed, is also used for medicinal purposes. The plant is narcotic and used to treat skin diseases and rheumatic pain. Atropine and scopolamine are the main alkaloids in the plant. Atropine is antimuscuranic whereas, scopolamine affects central nervous system. In the present study, the presence of atropine and scopolamine were verified in leaves and seeds of Datura stramonium and D. metel. Argemone mexicana which is another weed is also generally identified as ‘Datturi’ and a popular chewing product called ‘pan masala’ were also subjected to GC-MS analysis. Hexane extracts did not show the presence of atropine and scopolamine. However, ethyl acetate and methanol extracts of both species of Datura elucidated the presence of alkaloids. Argemone mexicana and ‘Pan masala’ did not show the presence of atropine and scopolamine. This confirms that Argemone mexicana, is not an alternate to Datura and commercial ‘Pan masala’ does not contains the alkaloids. © 2017, Chemical Publishing Co. All rights reserved. 
Argemone mexicana; Atropine; Datura; GC-MS; Pan masala; Scopolamine