Identification of N,N-dimethyltryptamine and beta-carbolines in psychotropic ayahuasca beverage

Biomed Chromatogr. 2008 Oct;22(10):1056-9. doi: 10.1002/bmc.1023.

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 beta-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.

MeSH terms

  • Banisteriopsis / chemistry
  • Beverages / analysis*
  • Carbolines / analysis*
  • Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry / methods*
  • N,N-Dimethyltryptamine / analysis*

Substances

  • Carbolines
  • N,N-Dimethyltryptamine