Dioscorine is an alkaloid toxin isolated from the tubers of tropical yam on several continents.

Dioscorine is generally isolated in tandem with other alkaloids such as dioscin but is usually the most potent toxin in the mixture.

[4] Dioscorine produces insecticidal and antifeedant responses in various species of insects, but has more interesting historical applications.

People then began making the distinction between edible and toxic plants, and put the toxins to use in hunting.

Pinder extensively discussed the method of extraction of and the chemical substitution of dioscorine (Figure 1).

[7] Dioscorine derives its basic nature and nucleophilicity from the tertiary amine and carbonyl functional groups.

Dioscorine is completely soluble in a number of hydrophilic solvents (water, ethanol, acetone) but only slightly soluble in hydrophobic and mostly polar solvents (chloroform, ether, benzene, petroleum ether).

It acts as an antagonist of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) by physically blocking an open ion channel, leading to hyperpolarization of the neuron.

Nagata et al. studied the effects of dioscorine on the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor in rat clonal phaeochromocytoma cells (mixture of neuroblasts and eosinophils).

3) If dioscorine is heated with sulfuric acid on a water bath, a reddish-violet color appears slowly.

[13] An anesthetic, pentobarbital sodium, was often administered to mice during toxicity experiments involving dioscorine.