Species of plant
Banisteriopsis caapi
, also known as,
caapi
,
soul vine
, or
yage
(
yage
), is a
South American
liana
of the family
Malpighiaceae
. It is commonly used as an ingredient of
ayahuasca
, a
decoction
with a long history of its
entheogenic
(connecting to spirit) use and its status as a "plant teacher" among the
Indigenous peoples
of the
Amazon rainforest
.
According to
The CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names
by Umberto Quattrocchi, the naming of the
genus
Banisteriopsis
was dedicated to
John Banister
, a 17th-century English clergyman and naturalist. An earlier name for the genus was
Banisteria
and the plant is sometimes referred to as
Banisteria caapi
. Other names include
Banisteria quitensis
,
Banisteriopsis inebrians
, and
Banisteriopsis quitensis
.
[3]
Description
[
edit
]
Caapi is a giant vine with characteristic 12?14 mm (0.5?0.6 in) white or pale pink flowers which most commonly appear in January, but are known to bloom infrequently. It resembles
Banisteriopsis membranifolia
and
Banisteriopsis muricata
, both of which are related to caapi.
[3]
The vine can grow up to 30 m (98 ft) in length, twining on other plants for support.
[4]
[
unreliable source?
]
Phytochemicals
[
edit
]
Alkaloids
[
edit
]
Caapi contains the following
harmala alkaloids
:
These alkaloids of the
beta-carboline
class act as
monoamine oxidase inhibitor
(MAOIs). The MAOIs allow the primary psychoactive compound,
DMT
, which is introduced from the other common ingredient in ayahuasca
Psychotria viridis
, to be orally active.
The stems contain 0.11?0.83% beta-carbolines, with harmine and tetrahydroharmine as the major components.
[5]
Alkaloids are present in all parts of the plant.
[3]
Polyphenols
[
edit
]
In addition to beta-carbolines, caapi is known to contain
proanthocyanidins
,
epicatechin
and
procyanidin B2
, which have
antioxidant
properties.
[6]
Pharmacology
[
edit
]
Neurogenesis
[
edit
]
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January 2024
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History
[
edit
]
First mention of caapi comes from early Spanish and Portuguese explorers and missionaries who visited South America in the 16th century, describing ayahuasca brews as "diabolic" and dangerous decoctions.
[7]
Although utilised among the indigenous tribes of South America for hundreds and perhaps even thousands of years, caapi was not identified by westerners until 1851, when
Richard Spruce
, an English botanist, described it as a new species. He observed how
Guahibos
,
the indigenous people of Llanos (Venezuela), chewed the bark of caapi instead of brewing it as a drink.
[8]
Legality
[
edit
]
United States
[
edit
]
In the United States, caapi is not specifically regulated. A 2006 Supreme Court decision involving caapi-containing ayahuasca, which also contains other plants containing the controlled substance
DMT
, introduced from the
Psychotria viridis
component,
Gonzales v. O Centro Espirita Beneficente Uniao do Vegetal
, was found in favor of the
Uniao do Vegetal
, a Brazilian religious sect using the tea in their ceremonies and having around 130 members in the United States.
Australia
[
edit
]
In Australia, the harmala alkaloids are scheduled substances, including harmine and harmaline; however, the living vine, or other source plants are not scheduled in most states. In the State of Queensland as of March 2008,
[9]
this distinction is now uncertain. In all states, the dried herb may or may not be considered a scheduled substance, dependent on court rulings.
Canada
[
edit
]
In Canada, harmala is listed under the
Controlled Drugs and Substances Act
as a schedule III substance. The vine and the ayahuasca brew are legal ambiguities, since nowhere in the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act is it stated that natural material containing a scheduled substance is illegal, a position supported by the United Nations International Narcotics Control Board.
[10]
France
[
edit
]
Caapi, as well as a range of harmala alkaloids, are scheduled in France following a court victory by the
Santo Daime
religious sect allowing use of the tea due to it not being a chemical extraction and the fact that the plants used were not scheduled.
[
citation needed
]
Religious exceptions to narcotics laws are not allowed under French law, effectively making any use or possession of the tea illegal.
[
contradictory
]
Patent
[
edit
]
The caapi vine itself was the subject of a dispute between U.S. entrepreneur Loren Miller and the Coordinating Body of Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon Basin (COICA). In 1986, Miller obtained a U.S.
patent
on a variety of
B. caapi
.
[11]
COICA argued the patent was invalid because Miller's variety had been previously described in the
University of Michigan Herbarium
, and was therefore neither new nor distinct.
[12]
The patent was overturned in 1999; however, in 2001, the
United States Patent Office
reinstated the patent because the law at the time the patent was granted did not allow a third party such as COICA standing to object. The Miller patent expired in 2003.
B. caapi
is now being cultivated commercially in
Hawaii
.
[
citation needed
]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"
Banisteriopsis caapi
"
.
Germplasm Resources Information Network
.
Agricultural Research Service
,
United States Department of Agriculture
. Retrieved
15 December
2017
.
- ^
"
Banisteriopsis caapi
(Spruce ex Griseb.) Morton"
.
Plants of the World Online
. Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 2017
. Retrieved
18 December
2020
.
- ^
a
b
c
Ratsch, Christian (2005).
The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants: Ethnopharmacology and Its Applications
. Inner Traditions/Bear.
ISBN
9780892819782
.
- ^
"Banisteriopsis caapi"
. theferns.info.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Callaway, J. C.; Brito, Glacus S.; Neves, Edison S. (June 2005). "Phytochemical analyses of
Banisteriopsis caapi
and
Psychotria viridis
".
Journal of Psychoactive Drugs
.
37
(2): 145?150.
doi
:
10.1080/02791072.2005.10399795
.
PMID
16149327
.
S2CID
30736017
.
- ^
Wang, Y. H.; Samoylenko, V.; Tekwani, B. L.; Khan, I. A.; Miller, L. S.; Chaurasiya, N. D.; Rahman, M. M.; Tripathi, L. M.; Khan, S. I.; Joshi, V. C.; Wigger, F. T.; Muhammad, I. (2010).
"Composition, Standardization and Chemical Profiling of Banisteriopsis caapi, a Plant for the Treatment of Neurodegenerative Disorders Relevant to Parkinson's Disease"
.
Journal of Ethnopharmacology
.
128
(3): 662?671.
doi
:
10.1016/j.jep.2010.02.013
.
PMC
2878139
.
PMID
20219660
.
- ^
"When and how was Ayahuasca discovered by the world outside the Amazon?"
. 4 May 2008.
- ^
Schultes, Richard Evans (1977).
Hallucinogenic Plants
. Golden Press.
ISBN
0-307-24362-1
.
- ^
"Archived copy"
(PDF)
. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 2008-08-06
. Retrieved
2008-08-26
.
{{
cite web
}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (
link
)
- ^
International control of the preparation "ayahuasca"
, letter from the United Nations International Narcotics Control Board
- ^
U.S. patent PP5751
- ^
"Situation of the patent for Ayahuasca"
. 7 July 2003. Archived from
the original
on 21 April 2011
. Retrieved
10 June
2011
.
Further reading
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
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Banisteriopsis caapi
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Banisteria caapi
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