Nicotiana Tabacum - Ethnomedicinal Uses

Ethnomedicinal Uses

Tobacco has been used as an antispasmodic, a diuretic, an emetic, an expectorant, a sedative, and a sialagogue, and in homeopathy.

Tobacco has a long history of use by medical herbalists as a relaxant, though since it is a highly addictive drug it is seldom employed internally or externally at present. The leaves act as antispasmodics, discutients, diuretics, emetics, expectorants, irritants, sedatives and sialagogues. Wet tobacco leaves are applied externally in the treatment of rheumatic swelling, skin diseases and stings, as the active ingredients can be absorbed through the skin. They are also a certain cure for painful piles. A homeopathic remedy made from the dried leaves is used in the treatment of nausea and travel sickness. Some other activities reported for Nicotiana tabacum are: analgesic activity, anesthetic activity, angiogenesis inhibition, antibacterial activity, anti convulsant activities, anti estrogenic effect, antifungal activity, antiglaucomic activity, antioxidant activity, antistress effect, antiviral activity, aromatase inhibition, arrhythmogenic effect, carcinogenic activity, bronchoconstrictor activity, and bupivacaine kinetics.

The regions that have histories of use of the plant include:

• Brazil: Leaves are heated and the juice is squeezed out, mixed with ash from bark of Theobroma subircanum or other Theobroma species to make an intoxicating snuff. The leaf juice is taken orally to induce vomiting and narcosis.

• Colombia: Fresh leaf is used as poultice over boils and infected wounds; the leaves are crushed with oil from palms and used as hair treatment to prevent baldness.

• Cuba: Extract of the leaf is taken orally to treat dysmenorrheal.

• East Africa: Dried leaves of Nicotiana tabacum and Securinega virosa are mixed into a paste and used externally to destroy worms in sores.

• Ecuador: Leaf juice is used for indisposition, chills and snake bites and to treat pulmonary ailments.

• Fiji: Fresh root is taken orally for asthma and indigestion; fresh root is applied ophthalmically as drops for bloodshot eyes and other problems; seed is taken orally for rheumatism and to treat hoarsness.

• Guatemala: Leaves are applied externally by adults for myasis, headache and wounds; hot water extract of the dried leaf is applied externally for ring worms, fungal diseases of the skin, wounds, ulcers, bruises, sores, mouth lesions, stomartitis and mucosa; leaf is orally taken for kidney diseases.

• Haiti: Decoction of dried leaf is taken orally for bronchitis and pneumonia.

• India: Juice of Securinega leucopyrus is mixed with the dried leaves of Nicotiana tabacum and applied externally for parasites; Fresh leaves are mixed with corn-cob or Amorphophallus paeonifolium to treat asthma.

• Iran: Infusion of the dried leaf is applied externally as an insect repellent; ointments made from crushed leaves are used for baldness, dermatitis and infectious ulceration and as a pediculicide.

• Mexico (Southeastern): Among the Ancient Maya, Nicotiana was considered a sacred plant, closely associated with deities of earth and sky, and used for both visionary and therapeutic ends. The contemporary Tzeltal and Tzotzil Maya of Highland Chiapas (Mexico) are bearers of this ethnobotanical inheritance, preserving a rich and varied tradition of Nicotiana use and folklore. The entire tobacco plant is viewed as a primordial medicine and a powerful botanical ‘‘helper’’ or ‘‘protector.’’ Depending on the condition to be treated, whole Nicotiana leaves used are used alone or in combination with other herbs in the preparation of various medicinal plasters and teas. In its most common form, fresh or ‘‘green’’ leaves are ground with slaked lime to produce an intoxicating oral snuff that serves as both a protective and therapeutic agent.

• United States: Extract of N. tabacum is taken orally to treat tiredness, ward off diseases, and quiet fear.

• Tanzania: Leaves of Nicotiana tabacum are placed in the vagina to stimulate labor.