Narcissus and Daffodil

Alkaloids of Narcissus 185
tered. When symptoms are severe, atropine sulphate is given by intravenous
injection ( Junko et al., 1994).
Some Narcissus species can produce harmful effects without being swallowed.
Thus, species like N. bulbocodium must not be placed in confined spaces because
the scent of the flowers, when present in any quantity, can produce headaches and
even vomiting. The association of alkaloids with essential oils is found in oils of
patchouli, juniper, orange and jonquil absolute (Maurer, 1994). In turn, N. pseudonarcissus
shows irritant and allergenic properties on contact with animals and men
(Bruynzeel, 1997; Bruynzeel et al., 1993; De Jong et al., 1998; Gonçalo et al., 1987;
Güneser et al., 1996). The compounds responsible for the irritation are not known,
but alkaloids are thought to be involved (Gude et al., 1988). Additionally, extracts
of the bulbs, when applied to open wounds, can produce staggering, numbness of
the whole nervous system and paralysis of the heart. The mucilage secreted by
bulbs can also produce harmful effects in plant species such as rose, rice and cabbage,
inhibiting seed germination and seedling growth (Bi et al., 1998; Van Doorn,
1998).
Traditional medicinal usage
Despite their lethal potential, the extracts of various narcissus plants have been
used in traditional medicine to treat a variety of medicinal problems. This aspect is
covered in Chapter 2 of this volume.
Biological activities for extracts of Narcissus
Several Narcissus extracts have shown the following activities: antiviral (Abou-
Karam and Shier, 1990; Furusawa et al., 1973, 1975; Papas et al., 1973;
Ramanathan et al., 1968; Suzuki et al., 1974; Vacik et al., 1979; Van den Berghe et al.,
1978), prophage induction (Dornberger and Lich, 1982), antimicrobial (Dornberger
and Lich, 1982; Ieven et al., 1979), antifungal (Chaumont and Senet, 1978;
Chaumont et al., 1978), cytotoxic (Abou-Karam and Shier, 1990; Furusawa et al.,
1973, 1980), antitumour (Furusawa et al., 1972, 1973, 1975; Papas et al., 1973;
Suzuki et al., 1974; Wu et al., 1965), antimitotic (Ikram, 1983), hipotensive (Chiu et al.,
1992), emetic (Wu et al., 1965), antifertility (Matsui et al., 1967), antinociceptive
(Çakici et al., 1997), chronotropic (Chiu et al., 1992), pheromone (Keiser et al., 1975),
plant growth inhibitor and allelopathic (Bi et al., 1998; Ceriotti, 1967; Chiu et al.,
1992; Van Doorn, 1998).
Biological and pharmacological activities of Narcissus compounds
The compounds responsible for the majority of the above-mentioned activities are
the alkaloids. However, the mannose-binding lectins have also received much
interest recently (Barre et al., 1996; Van Damme et al., 1998).
The different pharmacological and/or biological properties exhibited by the
alkaloids from the genus Narcissus are shown in Table 6.4, but only some of the
activities of a reduced number of these alkaloids are known. The most extensively
studied effect is that of non-specific inhibition. The relationship of chemical structure