A Matrix-Reduced Whole-Plant Approach to Ayahuasca Preparation: Co-Extraction of Banisteriopsis caapi and Psychotria viridis

Abstract

Ayahuasca is traditionally prepared by aqueous extraction and concentration of Banisteriopsis caapi and Psychotria viridis. The resulting beverage contains N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), harmine, harmaline, tetrahydroharmine (THH), additional alkaloids, polyphenolic constituents, carbohydrates, organic acids, suspended solids, and numerous other plant-derived compounds. The source plants are chemically highly variable: DMT in dried P. viridis ranges from below detection to 17.75 mg/g, while B. caapi has contained 0.31–8.43 mg/g harmine, 0.03–0.83 mg/g harmaline, and 0.05–2.94 mg/g THH, with larger surveys extending these ranges to 18.27 mg/g harmine, 2.08 mg/g harmaline, and 29.04 mg/g THH. Finished ayahuasca contains the principal psychoactive alkaloids predominantly at milligram-per-milliliter concentrations, whereas individual non-alkaloidal constituents can occur at gram quantities within 50 mL, including fructose concentrations of 3.07–33.67 g/50 mL. Traditional decoction therefore produces a chemically broad preparation in which the pharmacologically central alkaloids constitute only a small fraction of the total extracted mass. This article proposes a matrix-reduced whole-plant preparation strategy based on joint extraction of the classical ayahuasca plants in a mildly acidified hydroethanolic phase. Experimental aqueous preparations establish simultaneous extraction of B. caapi and P. viridis into a common polar phase, while separate phytochemical extractions demonstrate that both source plants are compatible with the same 70:30 ethanol/water system containing 0.1% acetic acid. In separate extractions under these hydroethanolic conditions, dried P. viridis produced a concentrated crude-extract yield of approximately 8.2% of starting mass and dried B. caapi approximately 5.4%; these values serve as individual-matrix reference benchmarks rather than measured yields of the proposed simultaneous co-extraction. Botanical DMT extraction at pH 4 and experimentally determined pKₐ values of 7.45 for harmine and 9.55 for harmaline support a common mildly acidic polar environment for the principal tryptamine and β-carboline constituents. The proposed process combines the two original botanical matrices before extraction, removes structural plant material after extraction, reduces the temporary ethanol fraction, and uses the resulting solvent transition to reduce additional soluble, colloidal, and suspended botanical matrix. Selective isolation of DMT or β-carbolines is not part of the process; the preparation remains a direct B. caapi–P. viridis whole-plant co-extract. DMT, harmine, harmaline, and THH provide the principal analytical markers for determining alkaloid retention, while total dry matter, suspended solids, carbohydrates, polyphenolic constituents, and broader metabolomic profiles quantify matrix reduction and preservation of phytochemical complexity. The practical target is substantial because nausea and vomiting occur frequently with conventional ayahuasca: vomiting occurred in 47% of participants in one clinical study, while nausea or vomiting occurred in 62.0% of 8,216 respondents providing acute physical-effect data in the Global Ayahuasca Survey. By comparison, vomiting or retching occurred in 2 of 9 participants receiving a dried encapsulated botanical DMT/harmala formulation, and no vomiting or diarrhea occurred in a defined DMT/harmine formulation study. The matrix-reduced whole-plant approach therefore defines a distinct preparation technology between concentrated traditional decoction and molecular reconstruction: the classical botanical pair and its broad phytochemical architecture are retained as the direct source of the preparation, while excessive physical plant matrix becomes an independently controllable technological variable.