Identification of N,N‐dimethyltryptamine and β‐carbolines in psychotropic ayahuasca beverage
Biomedical Chromatography May 27, 2008 Cristiana Gambelunghe, Kyriaki Aroni, Riccardo Rossi et al. 52 citations
A dark green liquid seized by police from a member of the Santo Daime religious movement was analyzed using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. The extract contained N,N-dimethyltryptamine (a potent hallucinogen) and the beta-carboline alkaloids harmine and harmaline, which inhibit monoamine oxidase A. These substances are typical components of Ayahuasca, a South American psychotropic beverage made by boiling Banisteriopsis caapi bark with Psychotria viridis leaves.