Red squill

During World War II (1939 to 1945), as a result of acute domestic shortages of common rodenticides, such as thallium, strychnine, and red squill, a testing program was initiated for... 

History. For centuries man has recognized that rodent pests destroy his habitat, consume his food, and cause the spread of virulent diseases. Throughout the same centuries man has sought to eliminate these pests with a variety of poisons such as strychnine, arsenious oxide, and red squill - a steroidal glycoside extracted from the bulb of a lily-like plant, Urginea maritima. 

Red squill historically was used as a rodenticide, but has been replaced by newer, more effective agents. It is no longer used in medicine but may be used in folk... 

Red squill is native to the Mediterranean but has been transplanted and cultivated elsewhere. It is a member of the family Liliaceae and like most lilies produces a pear-shaped bulb that can be quite large. The bulb may be red or white in color, and this differentiates the red and white squill varieties. It produces white star-shaped flowers. It has been described as having a bitter and acrid taste. Squill was known and used by the ancients for many... 

Red squill contains many cardiac glycosides, the most prominent being scillaren A and scilliroside. These glycosides produce digitalis-like effects when ingested and, like digitalis, inhibit Na/K ATPase, block AV conduction, and cause sinus bradycardia. 

Red Squill, Pages 626-627, Alexander B. Baer and Christopher P. Holstege SummaryPlus Full Text + Links PDF (52 K)... 

RED SQUILL has the same cardiac activity as the white variety. But the most pronounced effect is it s toxicity to rodents. Therefore it has been used as a rat poison and contains in addition to other constituents the glucosides scilliroside and scillir-ubroside. 

Scilla extracts are characterized by predominantly blue bufadtenolide zones. The contribution and amount of buf adienolides vary according to the classification of white or red squill variety of Urginea maritima (Drimia maritiraa). 

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