A rapid screening and quantification method using DART-HRMS detects mescaline in cactus tissue. The method is validated with calibration curves showing R² values of at least 0.995, a lower limit of quantification of 1 ppm, and a linear range of 1–100 ppm. Applied to commercially available Echinopsis species, mescaline levels were less than 2% dry weight in all samples, consistent with previous GC- and LC-MS studies. DART-HRMS is suitable for quickly identifying mescaline and measuring its concentration in complex plant materials.
A rapid method using direct analysis in real time-high-resolution mass spectrometry (DART-HRMS) quantifies N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) in ayahuasca brews without lengthy sample preparation. The technique also identifies the beverage by detecting secondary metabolites from its plant ingredients. Analysis of six ayahuasca brews made with different combinations of DMT- and harmala alkaloid-containing plants found DMT levels ranging from 45.7 to 230.5 mg/L, consistent with values from conventional methods.