Mescaline occurrence

Mescaline and related alkaloids are found in varying amounts in cacti of the genera Lophophora, Gymnacalycium, Stensonia, Mammillaria, Ariocarpus, Opuntia, Trichocereus, Pelecyphora, and probably others. Members of the Native American Church do quite well with the dried cactus, but extraction of mescaline is desirable since the pure compound seems to produce fewer unpleasant side effects (e.g., nausea). For an excellent review on the occurrence and chemistry of the mescaline type compounds, see JPS 59,1699(1970) (cf. JPS 60,655(1971)). Various species of these cacti occur in southwestern U.S. as well as Central and South America and have been used by the Aztecs and others for millennia. For a good review of peyote see Lloydia 36,1-58(1973). 

There is considerable variation in structure between the groups of isoquinoline alkaloids, some being simple isoquinolines while others are complex dimers. About 50 simple isoquinolines occur in plants and they are characteristic of some families such as the Cactaceae. Interest in these compounds has stemmed from the well-known hallucinogenic phenethylamine, mescaline, and in one chapter, the occurrence of these simple isoquinolines is reviewed. 

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