Compound Monograph
Ecgonine
Ecgonine is a tropane alkaloid found in coca leaves and a metabolite and precursor of cocaine.
Where Does It Come From? (1)
Ecgonine is a naturally occurring tropane alkaloid, found in Coca. It is flagged as moderately toxic.
Research & Evidence
Ecgonine is a tropane alkaloid that occurs naturally in the leaves of the coca plant (Erythroxylum coca). It is structurally the core from which cocaine is built and is also a metabolite of cocaine in the body. Ecgonine itself does not have the marked stimulant or local-anaesthetic properties of cocaine, and it is of interest mainly as a biosynthetic precursor and a marker of cocaine exposure.
Toxicity & Safety
Ecgonine is far less pharmacologically active than cocaine. It is controlled in the United States as a Schedule II substance owing to its relationship to cocaine.