Melia azedarach 楝

POISONOUS PARTS

Whole plant, especially the fruits.^4,5

TOXICITY

• Toxic Constituents

  Limonoid tetranotriterpenes such as toosendanin and meliatoxin.^4–6

• Toxic Dose

  Reported lethal dose: 6 fruits, 30 seeds or 400 g of root bark.^4,5

• Poisoning Features

  Nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, tachycardia, hypotension, respiratory depression , dyspnoea , diplopia, numbness, headache, weakness, ataxia and even death.⁴

• Poisoning Events

  Multiple cases of M. azedarach poisoning due to medicinal use of the leaves and bark have been reported in Asian countries. Poisoning cases due to accidental ingestion of the fruits in children have also been reported.^4,7,8

CLINICAL MANAGEMENT

Supportive treatment.

IDENTIFICATION FEATURES

Deciduous trees, up to 10 m or taller; bark longitudinally fissured. Leaves imparipinnate, bipinnate to tripinnate, 20–40 cm long, usually bipinnate, pinnae base sometimes lobed into tripinnate leaves; leaflets opposite or subopposite, 3–7 × 2–3 cm. Panicles; petals lilac or pale blue, about 1 cm long. Drupes 1–2 × 1 cm, yellow when ripe. Seeds ellipsoidal.⁹

MEDICINAL USES

Uses in TCM—bark and root bark: treat tinea; leaves: clear heat and dry dampness, relieve itching; flowers (for external use only): clear heat and dry dampness, relieve itching. All parts of the plant can be used to kill parasites. Recommended dose: bark and root bark 3–6 g, leaves 5–10 g.^2,10–12

LABORATORY ANALYSIS

Toosendanin can be detected by HPLC-FD and LC-MS. Meliatoxin can be detected by MALDI-MS.^13–15