Alkaloid
hideAlkaloids are naturally occurring chemical compounds containing basic nitrogen atoms. The name derives from the word alkaline and was used to describe any nitrogen-containing base. Alkaloids are produced by a large variety of organisms, including bacteria, fungi, plants, and animals and are part of the group of natural products (also called secondary metabolites). Many alkaloids can be purified from crude extracts by acid-base extraction. Many alkaloids are toxic to other organisms. They often have pharmacological effects and are used as medications, as recreational drugs, or in entheogenic rituals. Examples are the local anesthetic and stimulant cocaine, the stimulant caffeine, nicotine, the analgesic morphine, or the antimalarial drug quinine. Some alkaloids have a bitter taste.
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News tagged with alkaloids
Doppler Ultrasound Helps Scientists Understand Fescue Toxicosis
Oct 21, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Doppler technology -- the very same technology used by meteorologists to track thunderstorms -- is being used by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists to better understand the rate ...
A newly discovered chemical weapon in poison frogs' arsenal
Jun 04, 2009 |
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New research documents a surprising chemical weapon used by some Amazonian poison frogs. The study identified for the first time a family of poisons never before known to exist in these brightly colored creatures ...
Houndstongue is a controllable problem on range and wild lands
May 28, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Houndstongue--also known as beggar's lice, dog's tongue, sheep bur and woolmat--is not only a general nuisance to those of you who find its sticky seeds stuck in your shoelaces or the hair of your dogs and ...
Gene-altering compounds released from forest fires
Apr 29, 2009 |
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Scientists in Washington State are reporting the first discovery of potent mutagenic substances in smoke from forest fires that often sweep through huge stands of Ponderosa pine in the western United States ...
Chemists synthesize fungal compound with anti-cancer activity
Apr 26, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Ten years ago, William Fenical of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography isolated from an ocean-living fungus a compound that has since shown the ability to kill cancer cells in the lab. ...
Chemists synthesize herbal alkaloid
Apr 15, 2009 |
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The club moss Lycopodium serratum is a creeping, flowerless plant used in homeopathic medicine to treat a wide variety of ailments. It contains a potent brew of alkaloids that have attracted considerable scient ...
The Beaver as Chemist: Total Synthesis of Enantiomerically Pure Nupharamine Alkaloids from Castoreum
Feb 16, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Castoreum, the dried scent glands of the Canadian beaver, was once one of the most valuable scent components derived from animals. Castoreum contains a complex mixture of substances, including a number of ...
