An extraction method using only diluted vinegar and ammonia was optimized to isolate ibogaine and related alkaloids from Tabernanthe iboga root bark and Voacanga africana bark. The process converts alkaloids into hydrochlorides, purifies them, and recovers minor alkaloids. This simplified, low-cost technique aims to make ibogaine—used experimentally to treat drug addiction—affordable for doctors in less economically developed countries.
The purity of iboga products sold online and by treatment providers is highly variable. Analysis of 16 samples—including root bark, total alkaloids, purified total alkaloids, and ibogaine hydrochloride—found ibogaine content ranging from 0.6% to 11.2% in root bark, 8.2% to 32.9% in total alkaloid products, 73.7% in one purified sample, and 61.5% to 73.4% in ibogaine hydrochloride samples. One sample contained no iboga alkaloids. Almost all samples also contained other alkaloids and unknown substances. The variability poses risks for correct dosing and potential adverse reactions or interactions.
Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS) compared the alkaloid profiles of bark and leaf from one Mexican species (Tabernaemontana arborea) and one African species (T. crassa) with the primary commercial sources of semisynthetic ibogaine, Voacanga africana root and stem bark. The qualitative and quantitative similarities between T. arborea and V. africana barks support previous reports that T. arborea is a promising alternative source of voacangine and ibogaine. The results also suggest that T. crassa could be used to produce conopharyngine and ibogaline, two compounds with the same basic skeletal structure and possibly similar antiaddictive properties as ibogaine.