''Croton tiglium'', known as purging croton, is a

plant Plants are the eukaryotes that form the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae; they are predominantly Photosynthesis, photosynthetic. This means that they obtain their energy from sunlight, using chloroplasts derived from endosymbiosis with c ...

species in the family

Euphorbiaceae Euphorbiaceae (), the spurge family, is a large family of flowering plants. In English, they are also commonly called euphorbias, which is also the name of Euphorbia, the type genus of the family. Most spurges, such as ''Euphorbia paralias'', ar ...

Etymology

The

specific Specific may refer to: * Specificity (disambiguation) * Specific, a cure or therapy for a specific illness Law * Specific deterrence, focussed on an individual * Specific finding, intermediate verdict used by a jury in determining the final ...

name ''tiglium'' is of obscure origin. It may come from the traditional name given by pharmacists to the seeds of the croton plant. According to one suggestion, it may be derived from the Greek ''tiglos'', diarrhea. According to another, it may refer to one of the

Maluku islands The Maluku Islands ( ; , ) or the Moluccas ( ; ) are an archipelago in the eastern part of Indonesia. Tectonics, Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located in West ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

, ostensibly the home habitat of the species.

Traditional uses

''Croton tiglium'' is one of the 50 fundamental herbs used in

traditional Chinese medicine Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an alternative medicine, alternative medical practice drawn from traditional medicine in China. A large share of its claims are pseudoscientific, with the majority of treatments having no robust evidence ...

, where it has the name'' bā dòu ''(). ''C. tiglium'' is known as ''japaala''/ජාපාල or ''jayapala'' in Sinhala and used in Sinhala traditional medical system of

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

and in Sanskrit. The seeds are called ''jamālgoṭa'' in Hindi, Marathi, and Urdu, and are well known for their toxicity (severe

purgative Laxatives, purgatives, or aperients are substances that loosen stools and increase bowel movements. They are used to treat and prevent constipation. Laxatives vary as to how they work and the side effects they may have. Certain stimulant, lubri ...

effect). They are used to treat constipation after the seeds have undergone a traditional Ayurvedic detoxification process with cow's milk (''godugdha''). This is referred to as ''Śodhana'', a general term for detoxification. The plant is poisonous, with the bark used as an

arrow poison Arrow poisons are used to poison arrow heads or darts for the purposes of hunting and warfare. They have been used by indigenous peoples worldwide and are still in use in areas of South America, Africa and Asia. Notable examples are the poisons se ...

and the seeds used to poison fish.''Croton tiglium'' Purdue University
/ref>

Chemical constituents

Major known chemical constituents are , glyceryl crotonate,

crotonic acid Crotonic acid ((2''E'')-but-2-enoic acid) is a short-chain unsaturated carboxylic acid described by the formula CH3CH=CHCO2H. The name crotonic acid was given because it was erroneously thought to be a saponification product of croton oil. It cr ...

, crotonic resin, and various co-carcinogenic

phorbol Phorbol is a natural, plant-derived organic compound. It is a member of the tigliane family of terpene, diterpenes. Phorbol was first isolated in 1934 via the hydrolysis of croton oil, which is derived from the seeds of the purging croton, ''Crot ...

derivatives. Croton tiglium - Autumn leaves

References

External links

''Croton tiglium'' List of Chemicals (Dr. Duke's Databases)
tiglium Flora of China Flora of Eastern Asia Flora of the Indian subcontinent Flora of Indo-China Flora of Malesia Plants used in traditional Chinese medicine Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Euphorbiaceae-stub