DNA internal standard for the quantitative determination of hallucinogenic plants in plant mixtures.
Pino Luciano, Cinzia M Bertea, Giovanni Temporale, Massimo E Maffei
Forensic science international. Genetics December 1, 2007 DOI: 10.1016/j.fsigen.2007.06.003 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Method development and validation Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Plant mixtures of Salvia divinorum and Salvia officinalis |
| Keywords | Plant quantification Botanical analysis Herbal quantification Plant composition analysis Plant measurement Salvia divinorum quantification Real-time pcr Qpcr Dna analysis Molecular assay Genetic testing Pcr assay Herbal mixtures Botanical mixtures Herbal blends Plant compositions |
| Citations | 20 |
| Key points | The Real-Time PCR assay produced calculated weights that corresponded almost perfectly with actual weights of Salvia divinorum in plant mixtures, proving the method's effectiveness for quantitative analysis. |
Abstract
Here, we show a new, simple, and rapid SYBR Green-based Real-Time PCR assay for the quantification of hallucinogenic plants in plant mixtures. As a test plant, Salvia divinorum Epling & Játiva-M., a perennial herb belonging to the Lamiaceae family able to induce hallucinations, changes in perception, or other psychologically induced changes with similar potency as LSD, was used. The method was tested on seven mixtures 100/0%, 80/20%, 60/40%, 40/60%, 20/80%, 10/90%, 0/100% (w/w) S. divinorum versus a non-hallucinogenic plant, Salvia officinalis. Total DNA was extracted from samples and quantified by Real-Time PCR. Arabidopsis thaliana genomic DNA was added, as internal standard, at the beginning of each extraction. A new formula for the interpretation of Real-Time PCR data, based on the relative quantification of DNA extracted from mixture versus a reference DNA extracted from a known amount of pure S. divinorum, was developed. The results of this work show an almost perfect correspondence between Real-Time PCR-calculated weight and the weight estimated by an analytical weighted method, proving the effectiveness of this method for the quantitative analysis of a given species in a plant mixture.