Aconites are the species under genus Aconitum. Though almost all these species are poisonous, Aconitum ferox (Indian Aconitum) is much more dangerous as compared to others and that is why also known as king of poisons. Despite their poisonous nature, some of them are being used in herbal medicines for the effective treatment of cold, fever, asthma, migraine, glaucoma, malaria, rheumatism, cut wounds, agitation, sweating, dysentery, alzheimer disease etc., after truncating their toxicity either through domestic decoction procedure or by soaking and boiling process. The poisonous nature of aconites is attributed to the presence of alkaloids mainly, aconitine in them. Higher levels of lethal alkaloids in roots make them highly poisonous. These alkaloids mainly affects the cardiovascular and nervous system as well as gastrointestinal tract causing symptoms like Paresthesia, numbness, hypotension, chest pain, sinus tachycardia, ventricular fibrillation, vomiting and palpitations. The least probability of getting detected makes aconite an imperative poison to forensics because the nature of metabolites produced by them is quite similar to those produced by the human body. The current review provides a detailed description of biological and toxicological facets of various constituents of aconite, their detection in forensic and difficulties encountered in their detection.

Keywords: Aconite; Toxicity; Alkaloid; Forensic; Aconitine.