Ethnomedical, Botanical and Phytochemical Aspects of Natural Hallucinogens

Abstract

More than 200 species and/ or varieties of higher plants, as well as numerous species of basidiomycetes, are reported in the literature to have been used for their hallucinatory and/ or euphoriant effects. Due to a paucity of research, only a few of these have been confirmed as definitely hallucinogenic in man or animals. This article reviews all of those plants now known to have a scientific basis for producing hallucinogenic effects in man or for which reliable ethnobotanical data are available to indicate that they could be hallucinogenic. Those plants alleged to be hallucinatory, but where substantive proof of this effect may be lacking, are summarily included for completeness arid in the hope of stimulating investigation.The hallucinogens of higher plant origin alone are found in 146 genera in more than 50 families. In virtually every instance in which the active constituents are known, their chemical skeletons are unique to a specific genus or to a very closely related genus.It is interesting to note that of more than 200 species of hallucinogenic plants only two are legally prohibited from use in the United States by Federal law: Cannabis sativa and Tabernanthe Iboga. Two or three others are illegal in a few states.

Prospective examination of the therapeutic role of psychological flexibility and cognitive reappraisal in the ceremonial use of ayahuasca

“…Perhaps most germane to the present study, there is some evidence that cognitive reappraisal and acceptance-based emotion regulation in psychedelic experience are important features of the ceremonial use of NN-DMT-containing ayahuasca. Ayahuasca is a potent psychoactive plant brew indigenous to the South American Amazon basin that combines the Banisteriopsis caapi vine with the leaves of Psychotria viridis plant (Schultes and Farnsworth, 1980), and is traditionally consumed by Amazonian indigenous communities in group ceremonial contexts involving chanting of prayers (e.g. icaros ), sacred tobacco, and interactions with a shaman (e.g.…”

Nutmegs and wild nutmegs: An update on ethnomedicines, phytochemicals, pharmacology, and toxicity of the Myristicaceae species

“…Trimyristin and its derivatives namely, myristic acid, myristyl alcohol, and glycerol are commercially used in personal care products, food and beverage additives, preservatives and paints and greases, and so forth (Marcelle, 1995; Singh et al, 2003). Traditionally, Myristicaceae species had been used in ethnomedicines and psychotomimetic agents (Alrashedy & Molina, 2016; Nagano, 2009; Schultes & Farnsworth, 1980). The present study was focused to critically review the ethnomedicinal, phytochemical and pharmacological potential, safety, and toxicity of the nutmegs and wild nutmegs for their contemporary use in herbal therapeutics.…”

A nomenclatural review of the name Echinocactus williamsii (Lophophora williamsii): Correct author and year of publication

“…The use of the plant as a hallucinatory is well known, in rituals of several indigenous North American communities (Schultes, 1937a,b, 1938; Bee, 1965; Stewart, 1974; Aberle & al., 1982), and later by other groups (Freye, 2009). It was the first hallucinogenic plant studied chemically (Heffter, 1894a,b, 1895; Bruhn & Holmstedt, 1974; Schultes & Hofmann, 1992), containing more than 30 alkaloids and derivates, mainly phenylethylamines, with mescaline being the main responsible of the visual hallucinatory effects (Schultes & Farnsworth, 1980). Pharmacological aspects of these chemicals are well‐known (Koelle, 1958; Bruhn & Holmstedt, 1974; Dinis‐Oliveira & al., 2019).…”

“…As a result of the widespread general interest in this plant, an extensive body of published literature has proliferated, both scientific and popular within a wide range of disciplines such as botany, anthropology, chemistry, pharmacology, toxicology, etc. (Schultes, 1976;Schultes & Hofmann, 1992;Anderson, 1996;Olive, 2007). The need for accuracy in the use of botanical nomenclature has been stressed many times (e.g., Jansen & Dengler, 2010;Nesbitt & al., 2010;Rivera & al., 2014).…”