Direct analysis of psychoactive tryptamine and harmala alkaloids in the Amazonian botanical medicine ayahuasca by liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry.
Journal of chromatography. A December 18, 2009 Ethan H Mcilhenny, Kelly E Pipkin, Leanna J Standish et al. 58 citations
A new analytical method using direct injection and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry can simultaneously measure 11 psychoactive compounds in ayahuasca, a plant-based Amazonian beverage used in traditional medicine and religious ceremonies. The technique uses a deuterated internal standard for accurate quantitation and requires only simple dilution of samples up to 200-fold, avoiding complex extraction steps. It shows high specificity, low detection and quantitation limits, and appears to eliminate matrix effects. The method was tested on three different ayahuasca preparations and is expected to aid clinical, ethnobotanical, and forensic studies.