Psychotria viridis Ruiz & Pav. has gained significant attention due to its role in the preparation of ayahuasca. This study aimed to improve the understanding of the specialized metabolite profile in P. viridis leaves and to evaluate how growing conditions and seasonality impact this composition. The specimens were grown either in the open field or in the shaded environment of rubber tree...
Peyote (Lophophora williamsii) is an entheogenic and medicinal cactus native to the Chihuahuan desert. The psychoactive and hallucinogenic properties of peyote are principally attributed to the phenethylamine derivative mescaline. Despite the isolation of mescaline from peyote over 120 years ago, the biosynthetic pathway in the plant has remained undiscovered. Here, we use a transcriptomics and...
The small, globular cactus peyote (Lophophora williamsii) is known for its ability to produce mescaline, a phenethylamine protoalkaloid (Figure 1). Consuming the mescaline-containing dried tops or “buttons” of peyote has a psychedelic effect that has been used in religious ceremonies by Indigenous communities for over 5800 years (Cassels & Sáez-Briones, 2018). Nowadays, psychedelic drugs are...
Salvia divinorum commonly known as diviner's sage, is an ethnomedicinal plant of the mint family (Lamiaceae). Salvia divinorum is rich in clerodane-type diterpenoids, which accumulate predominantly in leaf glandular trichomes. The main bioactive metabolite, salvinorin A, is the first non-nitrogenous natural compound known to function as an opioid-receptor agonist, and is undergoing clinical...