Barbasco is the name of several plants that contain poisonous chemical compounds that have been used for fishing by indigenous populations of the Americas:
* ''
Lonchocarpus urucu
''Lonchocarpus urucu'', or barbasco, is plant in the family Fabaceae. It is native to the tropical forests of Peru, as well as of Brazil and Guyana, growing from above sea level. It was also recorded in Venezuela.
Cubé resin, the root extract f ...
'', used by Shuar and Nukak peoples as a poison for fishing.
* ''
Deguelia utilis
''Deguelia utilis'', syn. ''Lonchocarpus utilis'' (cubé, (common) lancepod or barbasco) is plant species in the family Fabaceae. It is native to the tropical forests of Peru, as well as of Brazil and Guyana, growing from above sea level.
Cubà ...
'', used in Brazil and Peru as a poison for fishing.
* ''
Jacquinia barbasco
''Jacquinia'' is a genus of evergreen shrubs and trees in the family Primulaceae, native to Central America and the Caribbean.
The genus was established by Linnaeus in 1760 and named by him in honor of Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin
Nikolaus ...
'', an evergreen.
* One of several inedible wild Mexican yam (''
Dioscorea mexicana
''Dioscorea mexicana'', Mexican yam or ''cabeza de negro'' is a species of yam in the genus ''Dioscorea''.
''Dioscorea mexicana'' is a caudiciform dioscorea having either a partly to completely above-ground dome-shaped caudex with a thick, ...
'' and ''
Dioscorea composita
''Dioscorea composita'', or barbasco, is a species of yam in the genus '' Dioscorea'', native to Mexico. It is notable for its role in the production of diosgenin, which is a precursor for the synthesis of hormones such as progesterone. Russel ...
'') from which
progesterone
Progesterone (P4) is an endogenous steroid and progestogen sex hormone involved in the menstrual cycle, pregnancy, and embryogenesis of humans and other species. It belongs to a group of steroid hormones called the progestogens and is the m ...
can be synthesized.
{{Plant common name