Botanical species · safety record

Phytolacca americana

The EFSA Compendium of Botanicals holds 8 constituent measurements and 2 adverse-effect records for Phytolacca americana. 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: Phytolacca americana L.

8Constituent measurements

2Safety records

7Cited sources

31Licensed products (Canada)

Regulatory presence

Health Canada's Licensed Natural Health Products Database holds 31 licensed products naming Phytolacca americana 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

Fresh roots collected during autumn
Herb top
Root
Tincture of the root

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
3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid	Leaves	Solvent extraction	—	High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC)/Liquid Chromatography (LC)	Resolve DOI
3-hydroxybenzoic acid	Leaves	Solvent extraction	—	High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC)/Liquid Chromatography (LC)	Resolve DOI
Alkaloids	Aerial part of plants	—	—	—	Resolve DOI
Gallic acid	Leaves	Solvent extraction	—	High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC)/Liquid Chromatography (LC)	Resolve DOI
P-coumaric acid	Leaves	Solvent extraction	—	High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC)/Liquid Chromatography (LC)	Resolve DOI
Saponin glycosides	Leaves	—	—	—	Resolve DOI
Phytolaccatoxin	Roots and other underground parts	Solvent extraction	—	Gelpermeation, High Performance Thin Layer Chromatography (HPTLC)	No resolvable identifier
Saponins	Roots and other underground parts	—	—	—	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
Systemic	Digestive	Live plants	—	Horse (as animal)	Case report	Resolve DOI
Digestive	Digestive	Unspecified	—	Goat (as animal)	Case report	No resolvable identifier

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.

Kim, YO., Johnson, JD., Lee, EJ. Phytotoxic effects and chemical analysis of leaf extracts from three Phytolaccaceae species in South Korea . Journal of chemical ecology, 2005, vol. 31, no. 5, p. 1175-1186. DOI
Smith, GW., Constable, PD. Suspected pokeweed toxicity in a boer goat. Veterinary and human toxicology, 2002, vol. 44, no. 6, p. 351-353.
GRIESS, D., ENJALBERT, F., RECH, J. DIAGNOSIS OF FOOD-POISONING BY PHYTOLACCA-DECANDRA L IN HORSES. Revue de medecine veterinaire, 1994, vol. 145, no. 2, p. 133-139.
Wang, Zhuju., Cheng, Ming., Yuan, Sitong. Quantitative determination of phytolaccatoxin in Phytolacca americana roots by TLC-densitometry. Zhongguo zhongyao zazhi, 1990, vol. 15, no. 9, p. 533-5.
Petersen, Dan D. Common plant toxicology: A comparison of national and Southwest Ohio data trends on plant poisonings in the 21st century . Toxicology and applied pharmacology, 2011, vol. 254, no. 2, p. 148-153. DOI
Otsuka, Rafaela Denise., Lago, Joao Henrique Ghilardi., Rossi, Lucia., Galduroz, Jose Carlos Fernandes., Rodrigues, Eliana. Psychoactive plants described in a Brazilian literary work and their chemical compounds. Central nervous system agents in medicinal chemistry, 2010, vol. 10, no. 3, p. 218-237.
Valle, Emanuela., Vergnano, Diana., Nebbia, Carlo. Suspected Pokeweed (Phytolacca americana L.) Poisoning as the Cause of Progressive Cachexia in a Shetland Pony . Journal of equine veterinary science, 2016, vol. 42, p. 82-87. DOI

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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Independent literature