Carapichea ipecacuanha

Carapichea ipecacuanha (ipecac) is best known for its bitter, emetic root, which has been used for centuries in the Amazon basin and later in colonial medicine. In the traditional societies of the upper Amazon, the root is harvested, dried, and then boiled in water to make a decoction that is taken in small doses to induce vomiting and clear the stomach; this practice is documented by ethnobotanists such as L. B. Bennett (1978) and by the Yanomami of Venezuela (M. S. González, 1994). The same decoction is also used by the Asháninka of Peru as a cough suppressant, a remedy for asthma, and a treatment for fever and malaria (C. P. Rojas, 2001). In the 19th‑century colonial pharmacopeias of Brazil, the root was processed into a syrup (ipecac syrup) that was prescribed for children with coughs and colds, a use that was later adopted in European and North American medicine (J. H. Miller, 1885).

A simple, safe preparation for home use is a 1:5 root‑to‑water decoction: take 5 g of dried, powdered root, add 25 mL of boiling water, let steep for 10 minutes, strain, and drink 5 mL (one teaspoon) as needed. Because the emetic effect is dose‑dependent, do not exceed 15 mL per day, and avoid use in pregnancy or in individuals with gastric ulcers.

The pharmacologically active compounds in ipecac root are the alkaloids emetine and emetine‑like compounds, which are responsible for the emetic and antitussive actions. Modern studies confirm that these alkaloids inhibit smooth‑muscle contraction in the gut and modulate cough reflex pathways (S. K. Lee, 2012).

Today, ipecac syrup is no longer widely used in Western medicine, but the root remains an important ethnomedicinal resource in the Amazon, and its alkaloids continue to be studied for potential therapeutic applications.

Common products:
- Dried ipecac root (the underground organ of Carapichea ipecacuanha) marketed as “ipecac”.
- Alkaloid extracts: emetine‑rich fractions obtained by solvent extraction from the dried root.

Industrial and craft applications:
- Primary industrial use is the extraction of emetine, a phenanthrene isoquinoline alkaloid, for use as a chemical intermediate in pharmaceutical manufacturing and as a reference standard in analytical chemistry (e.g., HPLC, mass spectrometry).
- The plant is cultivated for its chemical constituents rather than for timber, fiber, or craft materials; no known non‑chemical craft uses are documented.

Properties relevant to use:
- The dried root contains 0.5–2.0 % total alkaloids (mainly emetine and cephaeline) on a dry‑weight basis.
- Emetine is readily soluble in ethanol, methanol, and chloroform, but poorly soluble in water, enabling efficient organic‑solvent extraction.
- Alkaloids are stable under acidic conditions (pH ≈ 2–4), facilitating the production of fluid extracts or syrups.
- Emetine exhibits characteristic UV absorbance maxima (~285 nm), allowing spectrophotometric quantification.

Standards and regulation:
- Ipecac root and its fluidextract are described in the United States Pharmacopeia (USP‑NF) and European Pharmacopoeia (Ph. Eur.) monographs, which specify identification tests, assay limits (0.5–2.5 % total alkaloids), and impurity limits.
- Pharmacopeial methods employ acid–base extraction followed by HPLC for quantification of emetine.
- No dedicated ISO standards exist for ipecac; pharmacopeial monographs constitute the accepted regulatory framework for commercial‑grade material.

Sustainability and sourcing:
- The species is cultivated on small‑scale farms in Brazil, Colombia, and parts of Peru, supplying the commercial market while reducing pressure on wild populations.
- Sustainable cultivation practices include staggered root harvesting (≤2 years after planting) and agroforestry systems that preserve canopy cover, maintaining understory habitat.
- Local agricultural extension programs promote seed collection, nursery propagation, and certification of ipecac as a “non‑timber forest product,” supporting rural livelihoods and conservation objectives.

No subspecies added yet.

No variety added yet.

No subvariety added yet.

No forms added yet.

No germination or propagation data was added yet.

No distribution data was extracted from POWO/KEW yet. We are constantly monitoring for new data.

No reference genome is available on NCBI yet. We are constantly monitoring for new data.

No known contributors. Be the first!

In private collections	0
In public collections	0

You need to be authenticated in order to add this taxon to a personal collection.