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New mescaline concentrations from 14 taxa/cultivars of Echinopsis spp. (Cactaceae) (“San Pedro”) and their relevance to shamanic practice

Olabode Ogunbodede, Douglas Mccombs, Keeper Trout, Paul F. Daley, Martin Terry

Journal of Ethnopharmacology July 15, 2010 DOI: 10.1016/j.jep.2010.07.021 (opens in new tab)

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Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Observational study Peer reviewed
Sample size 14
Population 14 taxa/cultivars of Echinopsis (Cactaceae) subgenus Trichocereus
Topics Mescaline Shamanism
Keywords Taxon Botany Cultivar Traditional medicine
Citations 54
Key findings Mescaline concentrations across 14 taxa/cultivars ranged from 0.053% to 4.7% by dry weight, and higher concentrations were associated with documented shamanic use.

Abstract

Aim of the studyThe aim of the present study is to determine in a procedurally uniform manner the mescaline concentrations in stem tissue of 14 taxa/cultivars of the subgenus Trichocereus of the genus Echinopsis (Cactaceae) and to evaluate the relationship (if any) between mescaline concentration and actual shamanic use of these plants.Materials and methodsColumnar cacti of the genus Echinopsis, some of which are used for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes by South American shamans in traditional medicine, were selected for analysis because they were vegetative clones of plants of documented geographic origin and/or because they were known to be used by practitioners of shamanism. Mescaline content of the cortical stem chlorenchyma of each cactus was determined by Soxhlet extraction with methanol, followed by acid-base extraction with water and dichloromethane, and high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC).ResultsBy virtue of the consistent analytical procedures used, comparable alkaloid concentrations were obtained that facilitated the ranking of the various selected species and cultivars of Echinopsis, all of which exhibited positive mescaline contents. The range of mescaline concentrations across the 14 taxa/cultivars spanned two orders of magnitude, from 0.053% to 4.7% by dry weight.ConclusionsThe mescaline concentrations reported here largely support the hypothesis that plants with the highest mescaline concentrations - particularly E. pachanoi from Peru - are most associated with documented shamanic use.

Comparable studies

Other observational and cohort studies on mescaline, most cited first.

Study Year Design Participants
Psychedelics not linked to mental health problems or suicidal behavior: A population study Randomly selected United States adults 2015 Observational cohort n = 135,095
Long-lasting subjective effects of LSD in normal subjects Healthy participants 2017 Observational cohort n = 16
Psychological and cognitive effects of long-term peyote use among Native Americans. Navajo Native Americans aged 18-45 2005 Observational cohort n = 176
Mescaline-induced psychopathological, neuropsychological, and neurometabolic effects in normal subjects: experimental psychosis as a tool for psychiatric research. Normal men who were volunteers 1992 Observational cohort n = 12
2,5-Dimethoxy-4-methyl-amphetamine (STP): A New Hallucinogenic Drug Normal control volunteers 1967 Observational study

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Mescaline Shamanism