HERBAL MONOGRAPHS
DOSAGE
Mode of Administration: Nutmeg oils, extracts, powders,
syrups and butters are used internally. The oil also is used
externally as a liniment 10%
Preparation: There is no information in the literature.
Daily Dosage:
Infusion/decoction: 1%, 50 to 200 ml daily.
Liquid extract: 1 to 2 times daily.
Oil: 1 to 3 drops internally 2 to 3 times a day.
Powder: 0.3 to 1 g; not to exceed 3 times daily.
Syrup: 10 to 40 ml daily.
Tincture: 2 to 10 ml daily.
Homeopathic Dosage: 5 drops, 1 tablet or 10 globules every
30 to 60 minutes (acute) or 1 to 3 times daily (chronic);
parenterally: 1 to 2 sc acute, 3 times daily; chronic: once a
day (HAB1).
Storage: Nutmeg should be stored in tightly sealed contain-
ers and kept cool and dry. The oil should be protected from
light in containers that are tightly sealed, completely filled
and kept at a temperature not to exceed 25° C.
LITERATURE: NUTMEG SEED AND OIL
Baldry J et al., (1976) Int Flav Food Add 7:28.
Bennett A et al., New Eng J Med 290:110.
Effertz B et al., (1979) Z Pflanzenphysiol 92:319.
Forrest JE et al., (1974) J Chem Soc Perkin Trans 1(2):205.
ForrestJE^Heacock.PvA, (1972) Lloydia 35:440.
Forrest TP et«t, Jpt973) Naturwissenschaften 60:257.
Gottlieb OR, (1979) J Ethnopharmacol 1:309.
Isogai A et al., (1973) Agric Biol Chem 37:198 et 1479.
Kim et al., (1978) Biochim. Biophys Acta 537:22.
Miller EC et al., (1983) Cancer Res 43:1124.
Misra V et al., (1978) Ind J Med Res 67:482.
Pecevski J et al., (1980) Toxicol Lett 7:739.
Rasheed A et al., (1984) Planta Med 50(2):222.
Sanford KJ, Heinz DE, (1971) Pharm Acta Helv 59(9/10):242.
Sanford KJ, Heinz DE, (1971) Phytochemistry 10:1245.
Sarath-Kumara SJ et al., (1985) J Sci Food Agric 36(2):93.
Shafkan I et al., (1977) New Eng J Med 296:694.
Further information in:
Frohne D, Pfander HJ, Giftpflanzen - Ein Handbuch fur
Apotheker, Toxikologen und Biologen, 4. Aufl., Wiss. Verlags-
Ges. Stuttgart 1997.
NUX VOMICA/547
Hansel R, Keller K, Rimpler H, Schneider G (Hrsg.), Hagers
Handbuch der Pharmazeutischen Praxis, 5. Aufl., Bde 4-6
(Drogen), Springer Verlag Berlin, Heidelberg, New York, 1992-
1994.
Leung AY, Encyclopedia of Common Natural Ingredients Used
in Food, Drugs and Cosmetics, John Wiley & Sons Inc., New
York 1980.
Lewin L, Gifte und Vergiftungen, 6. Aufl., Nachdruck, Haug
Verlag, Heidelberg 1992.
Roth L, Daunderer M, Kormann K, Giftpflanzen, Pflanzengifte,
- Aufl., Ecomed Fachverlag Landsberg Lech 1993.
Steinegger E, Hansel R, Pharmakognosie, 5. Aufl., Springer
Verlag Heidelberg 1992.
Teuscher E, Lindequist U, Biogene Gifte - Biologie, Chernie,
Pharmakologie, 2. Aufl., Fischer Verlag Stuttgart 1994.
Teuscher E, Biogene Arzneimittel, 5. Aufl., Wiss. Verlagsges.
Stuttgart 1997.
Nux Vomica
Strychnos nux vomica
DESCRIPTION
Medicinal Parts: The medicinal parts are the ripe, dried
seeds and the dried bark.
Flower and Fruit: The inflorescences are terminal and cyme-
like. The flowers have a 5-tipped calyx and a white to
greenish-white plate-shaped corolla with a long tube. There
are 5 sessile stamens in the mouth of the corolla tube. The
ovary is superior, 2-valved and has a lorlg style and a 2-lobed
stigma. The fruit, when ripe, is an orange-red, globular berry
with a diameter of 4 to 6 cm. The pulp is white, bitter and
surrounded by a tough, brittle exocarp about 1.5 mm thick.
There are usually 1 to 9 seeds in the pulp, of which 2 to 4 are
erect. The seeds are disc-like, orbicular, 12 to 25 mm wide,
radially striped, appressed pubescent and exceptionally
bitter.
Leaves, Stem and Root: The plant is a tree up to 25 m high
with a ""trunk circumference of up to 3 m. The branches are
obtuse-quadrangular, close together and repeatedly bifurcat-
ed. They are glabrous and they have 1 to 2 leaf pairs, which
are thjckened at the nodes. The trunk bark is blackish-ash-
gray and the branch bark is gray. The twigs are green and
glossy. The leaves are petiolate and crossed-opposite. The
leaf blade is glabrous, broadly ovate, entire-margined and
has a curved main rib. The broad stipules dry later.
Habitat: The plant grows all over southeast Asia from
Pakistan to Vietnam.