Common Names Pokeweed has many other names, here are a couple of them. PokeBerry, Pokesalad, PokeRoot, VirginiaRoot, IncBerry, CancerRoot, American NightShade, Pigeon Berry. If there are anymore feel free to comment them below.
What Is PokeWeed From what I've studied, PokeWeed is perennial Plant/Herb. PokeWeed is native to North America and now is all around the world. From what I've heard it can grow to the hight of ten feet or higher during the Summer and died back to the Root each Winter. The Berries and Dried roots are used in herbal remedies. The PokeWeed Herb is used for so much. It is a very effective Herb but at the same time it's very dangerous especially if you have children. PokeWeed has a speicifc amount of Protein in it, the proper word to call it is pokeweed antiviral protein, I think that is why its such an effective herb to use( health conditions). I believe it can be used for many things for example, ease the pain of Arthritis, but sadly enough no body has found a cure for it yet. I would have to say that most of it is poisonous but not all. The pokeweed plant contain active substances such as phytolaccine. The Roots of are mostly toxic.
I am glad I become somewhat aware of existence of this plant ,now that I read this thread.On side note it is badly written, overall.If you are about to post information about herbal compounds ,drugs and cure of diseases you need to have some chemical ,biological and anatomical background and do a lot of research ,before posting information on forum visited by kids.
"Most of it is poisonous but not all" is not very clear statement for one, posting herbal information , to assume.
The only good somewhat "safe" part of the plant are the leaves and ,yet again you need to discard the water they boiled into.
All of the rest is highly toxic.
As most plants it contains an alkaloid (phytolaccin) and the saponin (phytolaccigenin).Alkaloids and saponins can wreck a havoc into so complex and so highly organized organism as mammal.
A plant does not contain only one protein ,but many and despite it contains PAP protein it also contains one of the most deadly proteins known to humans Lectin. According to W.H. Lewis and M.P.F. Elvin-Lewis (Medical Botany, 1977))lectin is one of the most poisonous compounds we have discovered so far.
It is one of the active compounds in seeds ,which are most poisonous for mammals, including the seed of Ricinus communis ,also known as castor bean.This protein causes your red blood cells to clump together ,which can cause thrombosis.Additionally it might cause the aberrant (cancerous ) division of T and B cells ,within the lymphatic system.
Moreover PAP protein will not work against every single virus.Last research has shown it works via removal of purine bases in messenger RNAs of the retroviruses Human immunodeficiency virus-1 and Human T-cell leukemia virus-1.
It has been shown also that it plays some role into causing apoptosis or slow apoptosis ,which then leads to necrosis and severe inflammation ,but the infected cell is destroyed via activation of extrinsic or intrinsic pathway in programmed cell death.
There are many articles posted about this antiviral protein in PubMed.gov site.And I strongly suggest everyone research well what has been discovered about the active ,maybe thousand compounds, of this plant before attempting to consume it internally.Overall the plant is toxic for mammals (humans included).
Source for the included scientific data above :
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22563495
To my own judgment it is safe to be used mainly as dye at least till scientists work out all its active compounds and their toxicity for humans.There is much current research on PAP ,however as I mentioned it is only one of hundreds maybe thousands compounds found within different part of the plant or everywhere within it.There is current research on it in my own country for its role against neurogenerative diseases ,which are also caused by over expression of the effector proteins in apoptosis. I also would like to remind people that Wikipedia is not considered reliable scientific source ,on which you can put your complete trust .Do not expose your health to hazard,by trusting blindly what is published on such sites ,but rather have a look in public health sites , scientific research sites or reputable journals such "Cell" ,in which everything that is posted need to be verified by scientific community.
Reader is advised to keep in mind that a medical drug contains one or two active compounds ,while a herb can contain thousands.There is not much known about how all of those compounds act ,within let say mammal or human.
I just wanted to say that Pokeweed is grown around most sunny positions and its berries are a well use for painting runes on the body. I also wanted to thank GS. for the info. :)
