The Powerful Solanaceae

The Solanaceae, also known as the potato or deadly nightshade family is one of humankind’s most utilized and important plant families. It contains some of the world’s most important food plants, such as the potato, tomato, all peppers, ground cherries (tomatillo), and eggplant. It also includes a suite of deadly toxic plants represented by belladonna, mandrake, Jimson weed, henbane, and tobacco. The deadly nightshades are also members of this incredible family.

Rich in potent psychoactive alkaloids, it is a family of plants with a veritable chemical soup of desirable and toxic compounds referred to as the tropane alkaloids. They include nicotine, solanine, capsaicin, atropine, scopolamine, and hyoscyamine, chemicals that have been used as healing drugs in small doses, misunderstood or abused as addictive drugs, and employed as pesticides and warfare agents (e.g., sarin) when utilized in toxic doses.