Botanical species · safety record

Catharanthus roseus

The EFSA Compendium of Botanicals holds 12 constituent measurements, 1 adverse-effect record and 1 genotoxicity assay for Catharanthus roseus. This page reports what those source records contain and how to reach them. It carries no effect estimate, no dose and no recommendation.

Accepted name in source: Catharanthus roseus (L.) G.Don.

12Constituent measurements

2Safety records

6Cited sources

2Licensed products (Canada)

Regulatory presence

Health Canada's Licensed Natural Health Products Database holds 2 licensed products naming Catharanthus roseus as a medicinal ingredient, matched on the exact Latin binomial. A licence records that a product met the regulator's requirements for sale in Canada. It is not evidence that the product works.

Extract types on licence

Source material stated

Leaf
New material
Whole plant

What the records describe

Constituents measured

Plant parts

Preparations

Effect types

Target tissues

Recorded constituents

What analytical work has found in this species, at which plant part and preparation. A measured constituent is a fact about material, not about effect.

Substance	Plant part	Preparation	Concentration	Analytical method	Source
Ajmalicine	Roots and other underground parts	—	—	High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC)/Liquid Chromatography (LC)	Resolve DOI
Indole alkaloids	Roots and other underground parts	—	—	High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC)/Liquid Chromatography (LC)	Resolve DOI
Indole alkaloids	Leaves	Solvent extraction	≥ 0.68 Percent	—	Resolve DOI
Indole alkaloids	Leaves	Solvent extraction	≤ 0.93 Percent	—	Resolve DOI
Indole alkaloids	Unspecified	—	—	—	Resolve DOI
Indole alkaloids	Roots and other underground parts	Solvent extraction	≤ 1.83 Percent	—	Resolve DOI
Indole alkaloids	Roots and other underground parts	Solvent extraction	≥ 1.59 Percent	—	Resolve DOI
Vinblastine	Roots and other underground parts	—	—	High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC)/Liquid Chromatography (LC)	Resolve DOI
Vincristine	Roots and other underground parts	—	—	High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC)/Liquid Chromatography (LC)	Resolve DOI
Aspidosperman indole alkaloids	Leaves	Solvent extraction	0.032 Milligram/gram	High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC)/Liquid Chromatography (LC)	No resolvable identifier
Indole alkaloids	Leaves	Solvent extraction	0.063 Milligram/gram	High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC)/Liquid Chromatography (LC)	No resolvable identifier
Vinblastine	Leaves	Solvent extraction	0.028 Milligram/gram	High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC)/Liquid Chromatography (LC)	No resolvable identifier

Recorded adverse effects

Adverse effects reported in the source literature, most often in animal or laboratory models at a stated preparation and dose.

Effect	Target tissue	Plant part	Preparation	Test organism	Test type	Source
Digestive	Neurologic	Leaves	Solvent extraction	Human (as organism)	Case report	No resolvable identifier

Genotoxicity testing

Outcomes of genotoxicity assays as recorded in the source. A negative assay is a result under those test conditions, not a clearance.

Outcome	Endpoint	Test	Tested organism	Metabolic activation	Source
Positive	gene mutation	bacterial gene mutation assay	Salmonella typhimurium (as organism)	Without	Resolve DOI

Cited sources

The literature the compendium cites for this species. Metatron Health has no relationship with these authors or journals and earns nothing from citing them.

Yang, Liuqing., Stoeckigt, Joachim. Trends for diverse production strategies of plant medicinal alkaloids. Natural product reports, 2010, vol. 27, no. 10, p. 1469-1479. DOI
Alam, M. Masidur., Naeem, M., Idrees, M., Khan, M. Masroor A., Moinuddin. Augmentation of Photosynthesis, Crop Productivity, Enzyme Activities and Alkaloids Production in Sadabahar (Catharanthus roseus L.) through Application of Diverse Plant Growth Regulators. Journal of crop science and biotechnology, 2012, vol. 15, no. 2, p. 117-129. DOI
Rao, C.V., Kurkjian, C.D., Yamada, H.Y. Mitosis-targeting natural products for cancer prevention and therapy. Current drug targets, 2012, vol. 13, no. 14, p. 1820-1830. DOI
Liu, Ying., Zhao, Dong-Mei., Zu, Yuan-Gang., Tang, Zhong-Hua., Zhang, Zhong-Hua., Jiang, Yang., Shi, Dian-Yi. Effects of low light on terpenoid indole alkaloid accumulation and related biosynthetic pathway gene expression in leaves of Catharanthus roseus seedlings. Botanical studies, 2011, vol. 52, no. 2, p. 191-196.
Ramulondi, Mmbulaheni., de Wet, Helene., van Vuuren, Sandy. Toxicology of medicinal plants and combinations used in rural northern KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa) for the treatment of hypertension. Journal of herbal medicine, 2019, vol. 16. DOI
Serrano, Rita. Toxic plants: knowledge, medicinal uses and potential human health risks. Environment and ecology research, 2018, vol. 6, no. 5, p. 487-492.

Boundary

A constituent measurement is a fact about material at a stated preparation, not a statement about what that material does in a person. An adverse-effect or genotoxicity record is an observation reported in a source, most often in an animal or laboratory model. Neither is a Metatron Health conclusion about causality, human risk or benefit, and the absence of a record is not proof that a preparation is safe. Nothing here is diagnosis, prescribing or individual medical care.

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