AYAHUASCA:

• Ahahuasca as a hallucinogenic substance doesn't properly refer to one single plant. It's a term most commonly used to describe a combination of two very different plants: Banisteriopsis caapi and Psychotria viridis.
• The word AYAHUASCA mostly refers to a medicinal and magical drink made from these two plants. Smtms the B.caapi is also called AYAHUASCA. P.viridis is usually referred to as CHACRUNA.
• The former consists of harmala alkaloids harmine, halmaline and tetrahydroharmine. The latter consists of dimethyltryptamine (DMT).

CHEMISTRY:

• The ayahuasca medicine usually contains both harmala and tryptamine alkaloids. The effects of the brew are caused by DMT, which is an endogenous hallucinogen that influences the central nervous system. It resembles closely the neurotransmitter serotonin.
• DMT has no effect on the brain when consumed orally because of monoamine oxidase that is the prime inactivator of most tryptamines.
• So to make DMT active orally it's necessary to use harmala alkaloids, which are short-term monoamine oxidase inhibitors. They inhibit the monoamine oxidase allowing DMT to be active when consumed orally.
• The harmala alkaloids are obtained from the ayahuasca vine B.caapi and DMT is obtained from the leaves of chacruna - P.viridis.
• However, the ayahuasca experience is not entirely produced by DMT. The harmala alkaloids are hallucinogenic on their own and produce strong visual hallucinations. DMT has a strong emotional and psychedelic effect giving the visions more color and depth.

USAGE:

• The ayahuasca brew is widely used throughout the Amazon basin by Indian tribes and shamans for healing, developing spirituality and for magic powers.
• The shaman takes ayahuasca for a better diagnosis of the nature of the patients' illness. They claim that they receive their healing skills from certain plant teachers.
• In Ecuador and Peru the brew is known asayahuasca (meaning "the vine of the dead"). In Columbia and Brazil it's called Yage.
• The oldest object related to the use of ayahuasca is a ceremonial cup, which indicates that ayahuasca potions were known and used at least 2500 years ago.
• A big mystery is how very many different tribes separated by long distances has come to the same formula of ayahuasca brew, and how did they know exactly which plants to use to make an orally active potion.