Banisteriopsis caapi, alkaloids

Yage Banisteriopsis caapi Woody vine Harmala alkaloids Di methy Itry pta mine... 

Material Indole-based alkaloid found in several places including Banisteriopsis caapi (from which the South American hallucinogenic brew yage is prepared), Peganum harmala (Syrian rue), Zygophyllum fabago and Passiflora incarnata. ... 

Ai an important nineteenth-century collector of Amazonian flora, his name is attached to the Banisteriopsis caapi species, the most important botanical source of barm-ala alkaloids. 

The oral activity of tryptamines that are degraded by MAO can be enhanced by chemicals called monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOI). This synergism serves as the basis for the Amazonian entheogenic brew, ayahuasca (which means vine of the souls ), where DMT is rendered orally active by the presence of MAOI harmala alkaloids from the plant Banisteriopsis caapi (Metzner 1999). Anoliher botanical source of the MAOI harmala alkaloids harmaline and harmine is the seed of the Syrian rue, Beganum harmala, a bush related to the creosote, native to Asia and Africa. There are anecdotal reports that the potency of psilocybin... 

While each shaman has his own secret formula for the mixture (with probably no two exactly alike), it has been established that true ayahuasca always contains both beta-carboline and tryptamine alkaloids, the former (harmine and harmaline) usually obtained from the Banisteriopsis caapi vine, and the latter (N, N-dimethyl-tryptamine, or DMT) from the leaves of the Psy-chotria viridis bush. (There may be variations among plant species, but the alkaloids are always consistent.)... 

It is significant to note that neither one of these plant substances by itself is normally psychoactive in oral doses. (Harmine/harmaline is said to effect hallucinosis at highly toxic levels, but in less heroic quantities it is at best a tranquilizer, at worst an emetic.) DMT, in any quantity, is not orally active unless used in combination with a monoamine oxidase (AAAO) inhibitor. This principle is precisely what makes ayahuasca effective the harmala alkaloids in the Banisteriopsis caapi vine are potent short-term MAO inhibitors which synergize with the DMT-containing Psychotria viridis leaves to produce what has been described as one of the most profound of all psychedelic experiences. 

A reversible MAOl, as its name implies, is a much shorter-acting substance, and a potentially useful one when wisely combined with any tryptamine hallucinogen. The harmala alkaloids harmine and harmaline) present in Banisteriopsis caapi are reversible AAAOIs, with a life in the body of about six hours, which is just about the length of an average ayahuasca trip. What happens is that the harmala half of the ayahuasca brew inhibits the action of monoamine oxidase in the body, thus enabling the DMT half of the potion to interface with your brain synapses. Think of it as the harmala line-blocker making it possible for the DMT... 

This is precisely the concept of an "ayahuasca analogue." That is to say, if it were possible to find other, less tropical (hence easier to grow in Northern latitudes) plants containing the same alkaloids found in Banisteriopsis caapi and Psychotria viridis then the psychedelic experience provided by ayahuasca would be available to almost anyone or the planet willing to grow the plants and compound the potion. This... 

There are many foreign plants, most of them tropical, which contain, or are said to contain, DMT or harmala alkaloids. These are offered for sale from various specialty outlets. Psychotria viridis (a bush) and Banisteriopsis caapi (a large liana) are the two classical ingredients in jungle ayahuasca, but other species are also available. I will not list them here because I have no experience with them and it is my understanding that they require the kind of specialized care which is not a practical option for most North American growers. In any case, the alkaloids they contain are more easily obtainable from domestic plants which have already been described herein. 

The structure of harmine was known by this time (Fischer 1899 Perkin Robinson 1919A Perkin Robinson 19193), and the compound had been synthesized in 1927 (Manske etaL 1927 Spath Lederer 1930A Spath Lederer 19303). In 1957, Hochstein and Paradies isolated from Peruvian B. caapi harmine as well as harmaline and i leptaflorine or tetrahydroharmine (Hochstein Paradies 1957). These compounds were also found in an ayahuasca potion from Peril, and harmaline and (sf-leptaflorine (TetraHydroHarmine) were proposed to be psychotropic compounds in this ayahuasca potion. In 1969, the stable P-carboline alkaloid harmine was found in quantities similar to fresh material in Spruce s original type collection of Banisteriopsis caapi from 1852 (Schultes etaL 1969) Rivier and Lindgren found the same three p-carbolines as major alkaloids of Banisteriopsis caapi (Rivier Lindgren... 

---