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Article: Alkaloids
- Article from:
- Plant Sciences
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Alkaloids
Alkaloids are natural, organic substances that are predominantly found in plants and normally contain at least one nitrogen atom in their chemical structure. Their basic (alkaline) nature has led to the term
alkaloids.
Since the identification of the first alkaloid, morphine, from the opium poppy (
Papaver somniferum
) in 1806, more than ten thousand alkaloids have been isolated from plants. Alkaloids are the active components of numerous medicinal plants or plant-derived drugs and poisons, and their structural diversity
and different
physiological
activities are unmatched by any other group of natural products.
Although alkaloids have been detected in some animals (e.g., ...