Commercial cultivation of Duboisia species in Australia and of H. muticus in Egypt constitute the basis for supply of the global demand for tropane alkaloids. Also to a limited extent, H. niger is cultivated in the United States, UK and India. Indigenous to Western Europe and temperate forests of India, A. belladonna is cultivated in UK, Germany, former USSR, the United States and India. Duboisia species are also cultivated in India and Ecuador. Scopolia species are cultivated from wild sources and used in commercial isolation of tropane alkaloids in China and Romania. Two of the three species of Duboisia are indigenous to Australia and have over 50 years been a major world source of tropane alkaloids. Interest in Duboisia was very much stimulated by the demand for hyoscine as a treatment for motion sickness in military personnel during World War II. Even higher levels of alkaloids and higher proportions of hyoscine can be obtained from selected D. myoporoides × D. leichhardtii hybrids, which are currently cultivated. An important commercial source of medicinal tropane alkaloids, most of the Australian crop (about 1200 tonnes) is exported to Germany, Switzerland and Japan for processing. About 500–600 tonnes of Egyptian henbane are collected from wild sources annually in Egypt and are exported to Germany.

In India A. belladonna and A. acuminata are cultivated by CIMAP in the Kashmir Valley. The present annual production of belladonna leaves from wild and cultivated sources is around 30 tonnes with yield potential of about 100 kg of total alkaloids per annum.

Out of the 15 species reported from the world, 10 species are found in India. D. stramonium is collected from West Himalayas, Nilgiri and Pazhani hills of Tamil Nadu. The present stramonium resources in India are around 40 tonnes per annum.

D. innoxia is by far the commonest species of datura occurring wild in India. Occurring as a weed throughout India, it is more common in the arid regions of Punjab, Rajasthan and the peninsular regions of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. The raw material is presently being collected in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan with an annual turnover of around 50 tonnes of dry herb.