A 2024 molecular marker study of few hundred specimens sampled across Brazil and lowland Bolivia supports a four-species hypothesis (A. colubrina (Vell.) Brenan, A. macrocarpa (Benth.) Brenan, A. peregrina (L.) Speg., and A. falcata (Benth.) Speg) for the Anadenanthera genus as opposed to a two-species, four-variety hypothesis.[2]
^Walker, Scott R.; Pullella, Glenn A.; Piggott, Matthew J.; Duggan, Peter J. (5 July 2023). "Introduction to the chemistry and pharmacology of psychedelic drugs". Australian Journal of Chemistry. 76 (5): 236–257. doi:10.1071/CH23050. ISSN0004-9425. Retrieved 15 April 2025. An alternative strategy discovered by early cultures is to administer the psychoactive substances in the form of snuffs, thus avoiding the 'first-pass metabolism' that occurs in the liver if taken orally. Although widespread across South America and the Caribbean, this practice is thought to originate from continental South America. Seeds of two Anadenanthera species, A. peregrina and A. colubrina, and the resin of a number of Virola species, were used for this purpose and have been shown to contain DMT (2), a range of DMT analogues and β-carbolines.[7] Bufotenin (11), in particular, is found in seeds of certain species of Anadenanthera and in the latex of a sub-species of the north-eastern South American tree Brosimum acutifolium used by indigenous shamans.[11] In addition to plant sources, bufotenin (11) is also found in the skin secretions and eggs of several toads, particularly the Colorado River toad (Incilius alvarius). The evidence that bufotenin is actually psychoactive is weak, however, and these toad secretions contain several other tryptamines including more powerful psychedelics such as 5-MeO-DMT (12, Fig. 1).[12]
Patricia J. Knobloch - Wari Ritual Power at Conchopata: An Interpretation of Anadenanthera Colubrina Iconography. Latin American Antiquity 11(4), 2000, pp. 387–402.
Juan P. Ogalde, Bernardo T. Arriaza, and Elia C. Soto - Uso de plantas psicoactivas en el north de Chile: evidencia química del consumo de ayahuasca durante el periodo medio (500-1000 d.C.). Latin American Antiquity 21(4), 2010, pp 441–450.
