Identification of N,N‐dimethyltryptamine and β‐carbolines in psychotropic ayahuasca beverage

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.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Abstract Recently many people have shown great interest in traditional indigenous practices and popular medicine, involving the ingestion of natural psychotropic drugs. We received a request to analyze and determine the nature of a dark green liquid with a dark brown plant sediment, which the police had seized at an airport and inside the home of a person belonging to the ‘Santo Daime’ religious movement. Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry analysis of the extract identified N , N ‐dimethyltryptamine, a potent hallucinogen, and the β ‐carboline alkaloids harmine and harmaline, revealing monoamine oxidase A‐inhibiting properties. These substances are typical components of Ayahuasca, a South American psychotropic beverage obtained by boiling the bark of the liana Banisteriopsis caapi together with the leaves of various admixture plants, principally Psychotria viridis . Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.