Anabasine

/ˌænəˈbeɪsiːn/ noun

Definition

A naturally occurring alkaloid found in certain plants and animals, particularly toxic to insects and used in early pesticide research.

Etymology

From 'anabas' + '-ine' (chemical suffix variant). Anabasine is a variant spelling and related compound to anabasin, both discovered in tropical species in the 1800s during the height of natural product chemistry.

Kelly Says

Anabasine represents a forgotten era of pesticide science when researchers hoped tropical fish and plants could provide safer alternatives to synthetic chemicals—some of this research actually led to modern neonicotinoid pesticides used today.

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