Abstract
MINT weed (Salvia reflexa) has been shown to be responsible for heavy losses of stock in Queensland1. Chemical investigation of the plant failed to demonstrate the presence of any of the poisonous principles commonly found in plants. Following on the work of Rimington2 with Tribulus, we were led to investigate the nitrate and nitrite content of S. reflexa, and the possibility that methæmoglobinæmia due to nitrite poisoning would follow the ingestion of the plant. The dried plant was found to contain up to 5 per cent of nitrate calculated as potassium nitrate, and an enzyme is present in the plant capable of reducing nitrate to nitrite, apparently through oxidation of glucose.
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References
Commonwealth Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. Pamphlet No. 49. Melbourne (1935).
Rimington, C., South African J. Sci., 30, 472 (1933).
Cf. Seekles, L., and Sjollema, B., Arch. wiss. prakt. Tierheilkunde, 65, 331 (1932).
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WILLIAMS, C., HINES, H. Toxicity of Salvia reflexa. Nature 144, 118–119 (1939). https://doi.org/10.1038/144118b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/144118b0
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