Defining "Alkaloids"

[theboysarebackintown!]

My question is... Do the actives in herbal tinctures such as holy basil or St. John's wort qualify as alkaloids? Or does this term classify a more specific set of plant based actives?

 

[Nathanial.Dread]

My question is... Do the actives in herbal tinctures such as holy basil or St. John's wort qualify as alkaloids? Or does this term classify a more specific set of plant based actives?

An alkaloid is a naturally occurring compound that contains a nitrogen and (usually) acts as a base.

Blessings
~ND

 

[endlessness]

What are the actives you are talking about specifically, did you look up what those plants contain? Sometimes actives may be of other classifications that are not alkaloids (like cannabinoids for example), since they don't contain that nitrogen Nathanial.Dread was talking about.

 

[entheogenic-gnosis]

Generally an alkaloid is a nitrogen containing plant compound (though some synthetic compounds are also dubbed alkaloids), always composed of nitrogen, carbon, and hydrogen, but may also have other atoms as part of their structure, such as oxygen, sulphur or phosphorus. These compounds are generally basic, but some acidic compounds are also included.

The boundary between alkaloids and other nitrogen-containing natural compounds is not clear-cut.[14] Compounds like amino acid peptides, proteins, nucleotides, nucleic acid, amines, and antibiotics are usually not called alkaloids.[2] Natural compounds containing nitrogen in the exocyclic position (mescaline, serotonin, dopamine, etc.) are usually classified as amines rather than as alkaloids.[15] Some authors, however, consider alkaloids a special case of amines. -Wikipedia

The compounds in saint John's wort, such as Hypericin, contain no nitrogen and thus are not alkaloids, they are naphthodianthrones, which are anthraquinone-derivatives...

-eg

 

[entheogenic-gnosis]

cirsilineol, cirsimaritin, isothymusin, isothymonin, apigenin, rosmarinic acid, and appreciable quantities of eugenol as well as at least five fatty acids (stearic, palmitic, oleic, linoleic and linolenic acids)...These are triterpenes, ursolic acid, volatile oils, etc...

IM not seeing any alkaloids in Ocimum sanctum (holy basil).

-eg