Chemical Constituents and Uses of Sabadilla

Source and Distribution of Sabadilla

Sabadilla are the dried ripe seeds of Schoenocaulon officinale, belonging to the family Liliaceae. It is also known as cevadilla and caustic barley. Sabadilla is a herbaceous tall plant.

It is indigenous to Venenzuela, Guatemala and Mexico. The seeds are dark brown to black in colour. They have bitter, acrid taste and the seed powder causes violent sneezing.

Chemical constituents of Sabadilla:

It consists of a number of alkaloids like cevadine, which is otherwise called as crystalline veratrine, veratridine, sabadine, sabadilline. Of all these alkaloids cevadine and veratridine are more potent. The mixture of these alkaloids is called as veratrine.

chemical structure of veratridine (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Uses of Sabadilla:

Powdered sabadilla is an insecticide. It is used to kill house flies, thrips and bugs. It is used in the form of spray or dust.