A rapid analytical strategy for the determination of ayahuasca alkaloids in non-ritualistic approaches by UHPLC-MSMS.
Ayahuasca is a beverage composed by a mixture of herbs which contain the compound N,N-dimethyltriptamine (DMT) and the β-carbolines. Although its use is legalized in Brazil only for religious and spiritual ceremonies, there is a growing black market specialized in the distribution of these compounds in form of herbal material through internet and mail. The purpose of this work was the development of an ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method for the determination of ayahuasca alkaloids and its application in seized ayahuasca products. An aliquot of seized products was weighted and diluted with methanol. An aliquot of this solution was added with internal standard (DMT-d The limit of quantitation was 10ngmL for DMT and 25ngmL for harmine, harmaline and tetrahydroharmine. The concentration ranges used were 10-100ngmL for DMT, harmine and harmaline and all analytes presented a coefficient of determination (r This work successfully established a determination method for ayahuasca alkaloids in herbal material. In addition, the workflow proved to be simple, rapid and useful to estimate the concentration of psychoactive compounds in seized materials, leading to further investigation of ayahuasca ritualistic or recreational exposure.