OPEN Foundation

S. Navickiene

Determination of Tryptamines and β-Carbolines in Ayahuasca Beverage Consumed During Brazilian Religious Ceremonies

Abstract:

Ayahuasca is a potent hallucinogenic beverage prepared from Banisteriopsis caapi in combination with other psychoactive plants. N,N-dimethyltryptamine, tryptamine, harmine, harmaline, harmalol, and tetrahydroharmine were quantified in ayahuasca samples using a simple and low-cost method based on SPE and LC with UV diode-array detection. The experimental variables that affect the SPE method, such as type of solid phase and nature of solvent, were optimized. The method showed good linearity (r > 0.9902) and repeatability (RSD < 0.8%) for alkaloid compounds, with an LOD of 0.12 mg/L. The proposed method was used to analyze 20 samples from an ayahuasca cooking process from a religious group located in the municipality of Fortaleza, state of Ceará, Brazil. The results showed that concentrations of the target compounds ranged from 0.3 to 36.7 g/L for these samples.

Santos, M. C., Navickiene, S., & Gaujac, A. (2017). Determination of Tryptamines and β-Carbolines in Ayahuasca Beverage Consumed During Brazilian Religious Ceremonies. Journal of AOAC International. 10.5740/jaoacint.16-0337
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Analytical techniques for the determination of tryptamines and β-carbolines in plant matrices and in psychoactive beverages consumed during religious ceremonies and neo-shamanic urban practices

Abstract

The consumption of ayahuasca, a hallucinogenic beverage used by indigenous communities in the Amazon, is increasing worldwide due to the expansion of syncretic religions founded in the north of Brazil in the first half of the twentieth century, such as Santo Daime and União do Vegetal. Another example is the jurema wine, a drink that originated from indigenous cultures of the northeast of Brazil. It is currently used for several religious practices throughout Brazil involving urban neo-shamanic rituals and syncretic Brazilian religions, such as Catimbó and Umbanda. Both plant products contain N,N-dimethyltryptamine which requires co-administration of naturally occurring monoamine oxidase inhibitors, for example β-carboline derivatives, in order to induce its psychoactive effects in humans. This review explores the cultural use of tryptamines and β-carbolines and focuses on the analytical techniques that have been recently applied to the determination of these compounds in ayahuasca, its analogues, and the plants used during the preparation of these beverages.

Gaujac, A., Navickiene, S., Collins, M. I., Brandt, S. D., & Andrade, J. B. (2012). Analytical techniques for the determination of tryptamines and β‐carbolines in plant matrices and in psychoactive beverages consumed during religious ceremonies and neo‐shamanic urban practices. Drug testing and analysis, 4(7-8), 636-648. https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/dta.1343
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