Senegalia berlandieri

Senegalia berlandieri (Berlandier acacia, guajillo acacia, guajillo, huajillo, huajilla) is a shrub native to the Southwestern United States and northeast Mexico that belongs to the Mimosoid clade of Fabaceae. It grows 1 to 5 metres (3.3 to 16.4 ft) tall, with blossoms that are spherical and white, occurring from February through April.[1] The berlandieri epithet comes from the name of Jean-Louis Berlandier,[2] a French naturalist who studied wildlife native to Texas and Mexico. S. berlandieri contains a wide variety of alkaloids and has been known to cause toxic reactions in domestic animals such as goats.[3][4]

This article is about the shrub. For the chili pepper, see Guajillo chili.

Senegalia berlandieri

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Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Caesalpinioideae
Clade: Mimosoid clade
Genus: Senegalia
Species:
S. berlandieri
Binomial name
Senegalia berlandieri
(Benth.) Britton & Rose
Range of Senegalia berlandieri
Synonyms

Acacia berlandieri Benth.

Uses

Senegalia berlandieri is toxic to livestock and thus should not be used as forage or fodder.[5]

Alkaloids

Senegalia berlandieri contains a number of diverse alkaloids, the most plentiful of which are N-methylphenethylamine, tyramine, and phenethylamine.[3] The total alkaloid content in dried leaves has been reported to be in the range 0.28-0.66%.[6]

Four phenolic amines (N-methyl-β-phenethylamine, tyramine, N-methyltyramine, and hordenine) has been detected.[7]

Other trace alkaloids include nicotine, and mescaline (found in many cacti but infrequently in other plants).[3] The same group of researchers later reported finding most of the same alkaloids in A. rigidula, a related species also native to the Southwestern U.S.[8] There are no reports in the literature of these findings having been repeated, however, leading to the suggestion that they resulted from cross-contamination or were possibly artifacts of the analytical technique.[9]

Illicit use in supplements

After the FDA declared that the use of Acacia rigdula was unlawful in supplements (because of frequent adulteration with synthetic drugs), many supplement sellers began replacing previously reported 'rigdula' containing supplements with 'Acacia berlandieri'. Some of these products declare their Acacia extracts as containing Methylsynephrine, an entirely synthetic drug that has never been found in nature.

  • Senegalia berlandieri foliage and flowers
    Senegalia berlandieri foliage and flowers
  • Senegalia berlandieri tree
    Senegalia berlandieri tree
  • Senegalia berlandieri bark
    Senegalia berlandieri bark
  • Senegalia berlandieri flowers and seed pods
    Senegalia berlandieri flowers and seed pods
  • Senegalia berlandieri seeds
    Senegalia berlandieri seeds

References
  1. University of Texas Native Plant Information Network
  2. Holloway, Joel Ellis (2005). A Dictionary of Common Wildflowers of Texas & the Southern Great Plains. Texas Christian University Press. ISBN 978-3-540-63293-1.
  3. B.A. Clement, C. M. Goff and T. D. A. Forbes (1997). "Toxic amines and alkaloids from Acacia berlandieri." Phytochemistry 46 249-254.
  4. I. J. Pemberton, G. R. Smith, T. D. Forbes, and C. M. Hensarling (1993). "Technical note: an improved method for extraction and quantification of toxic phenethylamines from Acacia berlandieri." J. Anim. Sci. 71 467-70. http://www.journalofanimalscience.org/content/71/2/467.full.pdf
  5. "Guajillo". Texas Toxic Plant Database. Texas A&M University.
  6. Hegnauer, Robert mass (1994). Chemotaxonomie der Pflanzen. Springer Science+Business Media. p. 500. ISBN 978-3-7643-2979-2.
  7. Clement, Beverly A.; Goff, Christina M.; Forbes, T. David A. (1 September 1997). "Toxic amines and alkaloids from Acacia berlandieri". Phytochemistry. 46 (2): 249–254. doi:10.1016/S0031-9422(97)00240-9. ISSN 0031-9422.
  8. B. A. Clement, C. M. Goff, and T.D. A. Forbes (1998). "Toxic amines and alkaloids from Acacia rigidula." Phytochemistry 49 1377-1380.
  9. "Acacias and Natural Amphetamine". Ask Dr. Shulgin Online. Center for Cognitive Liberty & Ethics. 2001-09-26. Archived from the original on 2002-12-27.
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