Browsing by Author "Benstead, John Clyde"
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Item Restricted A study of the lactone systems of some picrotoxin derivatives(Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, 1951) Benstead, John ClydePicrotoxin is a bitter principle which is obtained from the berries of certain East Indian creepers e.g. Anamirta Cocoula. It possesses marked physiological properties, and is used by the natives as a fish poison. This physiological activity, allied to a bitter taste, originally led to the belief that picrotoxin was an alkaloid; but it was subsequently shown to contain only carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. Picrotoxin belongs to a group of natural products which are remarkable for their high oxygen content: this group is sometimes referred to as the "oxygen alkaloids. Members of this group (the amaroids) include -