THE BIOCHEMICAL ACTIVITY OF ACCESSORY PLANTS USED IN THE PREPARATION OF AYAHUASCA
K.ROSENQUIST, J.RUIZ, E. MOSQUERA, R. ARAWANAZA, AND E.RODRIGUEZ

Ayahuasca, a hallucinogenic drug preparation, has been used for centuries by Amerindian shamans as a means of communicating with the spirit world and as an aid in the diagnosis of illness. Banisteriopsis caapi, the main component in Ayahuasca, has been well studied and contains the beta carboline alkaloids harmaline and harmine. There are also several accessory plants used in the preparation in order to lengthen and intensify the effects of the hallucinations brought about by Ayahuasca. While these accessory plants are not nearly as well studied as B. caapi, recent studies indicate that several of these plants also contain psychoactive properties. Four of these accessory plant species were selected for study based on anecdotal evidence as well as a structured interview with Don Ramon Arawanaza, an Achual Ayahuasquero from Jerusalen. The leaves of Psychotria cartaginensis (Rubiaceae), Virola elongata (Myristicaceae), Brunfelsia sp. (Solanaceae) and Brugmansia suaveolens (Solanaceae) were collected and extracted in 96% ethanol. Thin-layer chromatography was used to separate the extracts into their chemical components, which were visualized under UV light and iodine. In addition, several bioassays were conducted on the extracts as a preliminary analysis of bioactivity. V. elongata and B. suaveolens showed cytotoxic activity in a brine shrimp assay. V. elongata was also found to have anti-bacterial activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa (gram-negative) and Bacillus cereus (gram-positive) and anti-fungal activity against Candida albicans in disk diffusion assays. The results of these preliminary bioassays show that the accessory plants have interesting bioactivity. However, anecdotal evidence of their psychoactive effects suggests that the greatest potential of these plants lies within the areas of neurological and psychological pharmacology.