Entheobotanical Educational Information AYAHUASCA

By Kenneth Berman ( this article first appeared in the American Free Journal weekly Feb. 18-24 2010 Vol. 21 No. 8)

 This specific column differs from all my other columns because there are several plants used in producing the sacred brew called “Ayahuasca”. This is the common name given to the Amazonian plant medicine that is actually a combination of no less than two plants*. It is the synergistic combination of these plants that activate their psychoactive components. Almost consistently the Amazonian vine Banisteriopsis caapi is employed as one of the plants. Traditionally it is this plant on its own that is named Ayahuasca. The name translates to “Vine of The Dead” because “the medicine” has been employed by Amazonian natives for visiting their dead relatives and communicating with their spirits. The other plant added usually varies depending on each specific tribe’s geographical location in the Amazon. This has been an ethnobotanical phenomenon. That is, the fact that isolated tribal peoples in the Amazon discovered the same “medicine” through different combinations ofplants. There have been several plants therefore traditionally combined to produce Ayahuasca. Contemporary research has also reveled a large selection of botanicals (from almost everywhere in the world) that contain the active components necessary to produce this psychoactive medicine. Therefore this will not be an outline for any one specific plant it will be general information on several different plants, all of which are in reality one medicine – Ayahuasca.

*There is often an ad-mixture of other plants added to the original two plants.

  • General: Ayahuasca is an oral potion that combines two plants that synergistically react to allow the body to absorb the more entheogenic component of the two – N,N-dimethyltryptamine or otherwise abbreviated to D.M.T. Therefore it is an oral D.M.T. experience. The other plant contains the chemicals Harmine or Harmaline which are monoamine oxidase inhibitors or otherwise known as M.A.O.I.s. I will expound on the significance of this later, but it is necessary to mention because of the separation in the botanicals and their toxicology.
  • Plants containing D.M.T.: Psychotria viridis (chacruna), Desmodium illinoensis Diplopterys cabrerana (Chagpronga), Mimosa hostilis (Jurema), Phalaris aquatica (Canary Reed Grass) Virola species, Acacia species and many other genus. Note: D.M.T. is found endogenously in almost every spectrum of biological life forms. It is found naturally present in the HUMAN brain.
  • Plants containing M.A.O.I.s: Banisteriopsis caapi (Ayahuasca vine), Peganum harmala (Syrian Rue), Passiflora genus (Passion Flower) and plants from many other genus including Elaeagnus and Uncaria.

Toxicology:  A) Harmine and Harmaline (monoamine oxidase inhibitors-M.A.O.I.s) – Sedatives/hallucinogens. Q- What are monoaminine oxidase inhibitors? A- In a nut shell an M.A.O.I. is a chemical that affects an enzyme in our digestive system called mono-amine-oxidase. What M.A.O. does is break down or convert any unwanted or potentially toxic chemicals that we ingest into something our bodies can assimilate. There are many toxins in foods that would poison our systems if we did not have M.A.O. present. Because D.M.T. is