Internet method for the extraction of N,N-dimethyltryptamine from Mimosa hostilis roots: Does it really extract dimethyltryptamine?

Background and aims The psychoactive capacity of the alkaloid N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) has been known for decades, and its presence in beverages used in religious contexts around the world – such as ayahuasca – has attracted growing attention from the scientific community due to its possible anxiolytic and antidepressant effects. Mimosa hostilis, popularly known as jurema preta in Brazil, is a plant known to be utilized for extracting DMT, especially for recreational use. In this study, we confirmed if five different organic solvents (n-hexane, ethyl acetate, n-butanol, dichloromethane, and chloroform) would extract non-purified DMT from M. hostilis and compared them in terms of DMT concentration found in the five organic solvents cited before.

Methods: We have performed the straight to base technique for the extraction of DMT found on the Internet. The evaluation of DMT concentration in the organic solvents was performed via UPLC-ESI-MS/MS. No investigation was performed on other compounds in the solvents.

Results: All the organic solvents extracted non-purified DMT, from lower to higher concentration: n-hexane, ethyl acetate, chloroform, n-butanol, and dichloromethane.

Conclusions: The Internet straight to base method indeed extracts DMT from M. hostilis roots. However, DMT is not purified and the exact composition of the extracts and its toxicology is unknown. Thus, recreational DMT users are exposing themselves to products with unknown composition and effects.