Journal of Ethnopharmacology
July 15, 2010
Olabode Ogunbodede, Douglas Mccombs, Keeper Trout et al.
54 citations
Mescaline concentrations in stem tissue of 14 taxa/cultivars of Echinopsis (subgenus Trichocereus) ranged from 0.053% to 4.7% by dry weight, spanning two orders of magnitude. Consistent analytical procedures allowed ranking of species and cultivars, all of which contained mescaline. The findings largely support the hypothesis that plants with the highest mescaline concentrations—especially E. pachanoi from Peru—are most associated with documented shamanic use in traditional South American medicine.
Haseltonia
February 1, 2015
Molly T. Klein, Md Abul Kalam, Keeper Trout et al.
12 citations
Mescaline concentrations in peyote are far higher in the crown than in other tissues. In mature plants from a single South Texas population, the average mescaline level in non-chlorophyllous stem was ten times lower than in the crown, and in root it was one hundred times lower. Non-chlorophyllous stem is a poor source of mescaline, and root is an extremely poor source. These findings imply that harvesting practices that cut non-chlorophyllous tissue kill the plant and prevent new crown regeneration, a conservation concern that should prompt reevaluation by harvesters and users.
Journal of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas
July 24, 2017
Martin Terry, Keeper Trout
11 citations
The peyote cactus is a Schedule 1 controlled substance in the USA, with an exemption for Native American Church religious ceremonies. This paper examines the political and religious origins of peyote prohibition, documenting a coordinated effort by missionaries and prohibitionists over more than fifty years to pass a federal anti-peyote law, which succeeded with the Controlled Substances Act of 1970. The authors argue that these efforts were part of the forced acculturation and destruction of American Indian cultures. They compare peyote's regulatory history to that of cannabis, another Schedule 1 plant targeted during the same prohibitionist rise, and speculate on peyote's future legal status in light of ongoing changes.
Journal of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas
July 23, 2021
Robert Jean Leblanc, Sohan de Silva, Martin Terry
2 citations
Most commercial topical products claiming to contain peyote cactus (Lophophora williamsii) do not actually contain the cactus. Chemical analysis using mass spectrometry and high-performance liquid chromatography found that less than 5% of tested products contained mescaline, a stable alkaloid that indicates the presence of peyote. The absence of mescaline in the vast majority of samples suggests consumers are being defrauded if they believe they are buying peyote-based medicines. It also indicates that wild peyote populations, though heavily harvested elsewhere, are rarely used in these topical products.
Journal of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas
July 15, 2020
R. Newbold, Sohan de Silva, Martin Terry
1 citation
Mescaline concentration in peyote cactus crown tissue does not correlate with crown diameter or rib number, despite the hypothesis of a positive relationship. Crown tissue from 30 wild-collected and 9 greenhouse-grown specimens was analyzed using liquid chromatography and mass spectroscopy. Statistical tests (Pearson’s chi-squared) found no significant correlation between mescaline concentration and rib number (field: p=0.392; greenhouse: p=0.313) or between mescaline concentration and crown diameter (field: p=0.251; greenhouse: p=0.229). The findings contribute to conservation of this vulnerable species and preservation of Native American culture.