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Significant riskNot for home use. About 100 mg of pilocarpine is considered potentially fatal; poisoning causes cholinergic overload (sweating, salivation, slow heart, bronchospasm), and pulmonary oedema has followed high eye doses for acute glaucoma. Atropine is the antidote.In an emergency, call your local emergency number or poison centre.

Jaborandi

Pilocarpus microphyllus

Also calledJaborandi (Brazilian; the name is also applied to other Pilocarpus and Piper species)

A shrub endemic to north-eastern Brazil and the only natural commercial source of pilocarpine, a drug that makes glands secrete and the pupil contract. Pilocarpine has been used for glaucoma since 1876 and is now also prescribed for dry mouth and, as eye drops, for age-related near-vision loss. The leaf itself is not a home remedy: it causes drenching sweats and salivation, and the wild plant is threatened.

What it is used for

Eyes
Strong
Pilocarpine eye drops lower pressure in the eye and have been a glaucoma treatment since 1877, replacing Calabar-bean extract. The US FDA has approved a 1.25% pilocarpine drop for presbyopia (age-related loss of near focus), though reviewers note open questions about long-term safety and the best dose.^2,1,3
Mouth ulcers and gum health
Strong
Oral pilocarpine tablets (Salagen) are approved for dry mouth after head-and-neck radiotherapy and in Sjögren's syndrome. In a 12-week trial of 373 Sjögren's patients, 5 mg four times daily improved dry mouth and dry eyes and increased saliva flow two- to three-fold; sweating was the commonest side effect.^4,5

Safety

Pregnancy: Avoid
Breastfeeding: Avoid
Children: Not established.

Interactions with medicines

beta-blockersModeratePossible heart conduction disturbances (Salagen label).
anticholinergic drugs (atropine, ipratropium)ModeratePilocarpine may oppose their effect.
other cholinergic (parasympathomimetic) drugsModerateAdditive effects.

Interaction checker →

Do not use if

Uncontrolled asthma
Acute iritis or narrow-angle glaucoma (where pupil constriction is harmful)
Significant heart disease (caution)

Side effects

Sweating (the main reason people stop), nausea, runny nose, diarrhoea, chills, flushing, frequent urination, dizziness
Possible effects on thinking in people with cognitive or psychiatric conditions

In the healing traditions

Andean / Amazonian
Jaborandi
Despite many references in ethnological sources, a 1979 review by Holmstedt, Wassén and Schultes could not pin the leaves to any particular use among South American Indigenous peoples; the name jaborandi is also given to many unrelated sweat-inducing plants.
Modern pharmacology
Pilocarpine
Leaves brought to Europe in 1873 caused copious sweating and salivation and were tried for many diseases by French physicians; pilocarpine was isolated in 1875. Only its use in ophthalmology survived, later joined by tablets for dry mouth.

Active compounds

pilocarpine: imidazole alkaloid; muscarinic (cholinergic) agonist that increases exocrine gland secretion and contracts the pupil
epiisopiloturine: second leaf alkaloid, active against schistosomes in laboratory studies

History

Symphronio Coutinho took jaborandi leaves to Europe in 1873, where their power to provoke sweating and salivation caught the attention of French physicians. Hardy and Gerrard independently isolated pilocarpine in 1875, and in 1876 A. Weber introduced it into eye medicine, where it replaced Calabar-bean extract for glaucoma and has remained for 150 years.

Sources

Reference, not prescription. Nothing here is medical advice. Herbs can interact with medicines and be dangerous in pregnancy; tell your doctor or pharmacist about anything you take.