<Home — Psychoactive Plant Database



  Psychoactive Plant Database - Neuroactive Phytochemical Collection





Worldwide, there are plants known as psychoactive plants that naturally contain psychedelic active components. They have a high concentration of neuroprotective substances that can interact with the nervous system to produce psychedelic effects. Despite these plants' hazardous potential, recreational use of them is on the rise because of their psychoactive properties. Early neuroscience studies relied heavily on psychoactive plants and plant natural products (NPs), and both recreational and hazardous NPs have contributed significantly to the understanding of almost all neurotransmitter systems. Worldwide, there are many plants that contain psychoactive properties, and people have been using them for ages. Psychoactive plant compounds may significantly alter how people perceive the world.

 

 

1. Molecules. 2023 Aug 31;28(17):6365. doi: 10.3390/molecules28176365. Cuticular Waxes and Cutin in Terminalia catappa Leaves from the Equatorial São Tomé and Príncipe Islands. Pereira H(1), Simões R(1), Miranda I(1). Author information: (1)Centro de Estudos Florestais (CEF), Laboratório Associado Terra, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017 Lisboa, Portugal. This study presents for the first time an analysis of the content and chemical composition of the cuticular waxes and cutin in the leaves of the widespread and important tropical species Terminalia catappa. The leaves were collected in the equatorial Atlantic islands of São Tomé and Príncipe, in the Gulf of Guinea. The epicuticular and intracuticular waxes were determined via dichloromethane extraction and their chemical composition via GC-MS analysis, and the content and monomeric composition of cutin were determined after depolymerization via methanolysis. The leaves contained an epidermal cuticular coverage of 52.8 μg cm-2 of the cuticular waxes (1.4% of mass) and 63.3 μg cm-2 (1.5% of mass) of cutin. Cuticular waxes include mainly n-alkanols and fatty acids, with a substantial proportion of terpenes in the more easily solubilized fraction, and sterols in the more embedded waxes. Cutin is mostly constituted by C16 fatty acids and dihydroxyacids, also including aromatic monomers, suggesting a largely linear macromolecular arrangement. The high proportion of triacontanol, α-amyrin, β-amyrin, germanicol, and lupeol in the easily solubilized cuticular fraction may explain the bioactive properties attributed to the T. catappa leaves via the popular medicine, which allows us to consider them as a potential source for the extraction of these compounds. DOI: 10.3390/molecules28176365 PMCID: PMC10489119 PMID: 37687194 [Indexed for MEDLINE] Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare no conflict of interest. 2. Food Chem. 2023 Dec 15;429:136859. doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2023.136859. Epub 2023 Jul 13. Combined omics approaches expose metabolite-microbiota correlations in grape berries of three cultivars of Douro wine region. Martins V(1), Szakiel A(2), Teixeira A(3), Abdallah C(4), Moreira C(5), Pączkowski C(6), Lanoue A(7), Gerós H(8). Author information: (1)Centre of Molecular and Environmental Biology, Department of Biology, University of Minho, Campus de Gualtar, Braga, Portugal. Electronic address: vmartins@bio.uminho.pt. (2)Department of Plant Biochemistry, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, ul. Miecznikowa 1, 02-096 Warsaw, Poland. Electronic address: a.szakiel@uw.edu.pl. (3)Centre of Molecular and Environmental Biology, Department of Biology, University of Minho, Campus de Gualtar, Braga, Portugal. Electronic address: antonio.teixeira@bio.uminho.pt. (4)EA 2106 Biomolécules et Biotechnologie Végétales, UFR des Sciences Pharmaceutiques, Université de Tours, Tours, France. Electronic address: cecile.abdallah@univ-tours.fr. (5)Centre of Molecular and Environmental Biology, Department of Biology, University of Minho, Campus de Gualtar, Braga, Portugal. Electronic address: pg42557@alunos.uminho.pt. (6)Department of Plant Biochemistry, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, ul. Miecznikowa 1, 02-096 Warsaw, Poland. Electronic address: c.paczkowski@uw.edu.pl. (7)EA 2106 Biomolécules et Biotechnologie Végétales, UFR des Sciences Pharmaceutiques, Université de Tours, Tours, France. Electronic address: arnaud.lanoue@univ-tours.fr. (8)Centre of Molecular and Environmental Biology, Department of Biology, University of Minho, Campus de Gualtar, Braga, Portugal. Electronic address: geros@bio.uminho.pt. This study hypothesized the existence of cultivar-associated correlations between grape berry metabolites and its microbial residents, in Douro wine region. Integrated metabolomics with metabarcoding showed that the microbial biodiversity is not associated to berry sugar concentration, but closely connected to the profile of amino acids, flavonoids and wax compounds, which drove cultivar differentiation together with the prevalence of pathogenic fungi, yeasts and bacteria, mainly Dothideomycetes and Gammaproteobacteria. Over 7000 metabolite-microbiota correlations with ρ >|0.99| exposed a core of 15 metabolites linked to 11 microbial taxa. Serine, oxalate, cyanidin-3-O-glucoside, petunidin-3-O-glucoside, gallic acid, germanicol, sitosterol and erythrodiol correlated negatively to the abundance of most taxa, including Alternaria, Aureobasidium, Pseudopithomyces, Pseudomonas and Sphingomonas. In contrast, phenylalanine, asparagine, alanine, (epi)gallocatechin and procyanidin gallate mediated positive metabolite-OTU correlations. E. necator and A. carbonarius correlated negatively with stigmasterol and amyrin. Complex fungi-bacteria relationships ruled by Dothideomycetes and Alphaproteobacteria further suggest tight host-microbe interactions at the carposphere. Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2023.136859 PMID: 37463536 [Indexed for MEDLINE] Conflict of interest statement: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. 3. Plants (Basel). 2022 Sep 23;11(19):2492. doi: 10.3390/plants11192492. Efficacy of Sterculia diversifolia Leaf Extracts: Volatile Compounds, Antioxidant and Anti-Inflammatory Activity, and Green Synthesis of Potential Antibacterial Silver Nanoparticles. Al-Ramamneh EAM(1), Ghrair AM(2), Shakya AK(3), Alsharafa KY(4), Al-Ismail K(5), Al-Qaraleh SY(6), Mojski J(7), Naik RR(8). Author information: (1)Department of Agricultural Sciences, AL-Shouback University College, Al-Balqa Applied University, Maan 71911, Jordan. (2)Department of Water Resources and Environmental Management, Faculty of Agricultural Technology, Al-Balqa Applied University, Salt 19385, Jordan. (3)Pharmacological and Diagnostic Research Center, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, Al-Ahliyya Amman University, Amman 19328, Jordan. (4)Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Mutah University, Mutah 61710, Jordan. (5)Department of Nutrition and Food Technology, Faculty of Agriculture, The University of Jordan, Amman 11942, Jordan. (6)Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Mut'ah University, Mutah 61710, Jordan. (7)Twój Swiat Jacek Mojski, Ulica Okrzei 39, 21-400 Lukow, Poland. (8)Pharmacological and Diagnostic Research Center, Faculty of Allied Medical Sciences, Al-Ahliyya Amman University, Amman 19328, Jordan. Sterculia diversifolia, widely distributed in Jordan as an ornamental plant, is a synonoum for Brachychiton populneus. Phytochemical studies examining the volatile chemicals in Sterculia diversifolia leaves are limited, despite the rising demand for their numerous applications. Furthermore, it was only recently that a report described the friendly synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) using aqueous extract derived from Brachychiton populneus leaves. Therefore, AgNPs were produced using either aqueous plant extracts (AgWPE) or ethanolic plant extracts (AgEPE), and Shimadzu GC-MS equipment was used to detect volatile compounds in the ethanolic leaf extracts. GC-MS profile of leaf ethanolic extracts of the Jordanian chemotypes of S. diversifolia revealed the existence of major components: (3β)-Lup-20(29)-en-3-ol acetate (30.97%) and 1-octadecyne (24.88). Other compounds are squalene (7.19%), germanicol (6.23), dl-α-tocopherol (5.24), heptacosane (4.41), phytol (3.54) and pentacosane (2.89). According to published studies, these reported chemicals have numerous uses, including as animal feed, vitamin precursors, possible eco-friendly herbicides, antioxidants, and anti-inflammatory agents. Aqueous extracts of S. diversifolia leaves had total phenolic of 5.33 mg GAE/g extract and flavonoid contents of 64.88 mg QE/g extract, respectively. The results indicated the contribution of phenolic and flavonoids to this plant's anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. The reduction in AgNO3 to AgNPs using S. diversifolia leaf extracts was confirmed by the change in solution color from colorless to dark black. Further characterization was attempted by X-ray diffraction, Malvern zeta-sizer and scanning electron microscope. The efficacy of synthesized Ag nanoparticles using aqueous or ethanolic plant extract of S. diversifolia against the Gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli and Gram-positive bacteria Staphylococcus aureus showed appreciable activity at 25 µg/mL concentration compared to the source plant extracts. DOI: 10.3390/plants11192492 PMCID: PMC9570600 PMID: 36235358 Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare no conflict of interest. 4. BMC Complement Med Ther. 2022 Mar 25;22(1):90. doi: 10.1186/s12906-022-03571-8. In vitro antibacterial and cytotoxic effects of Euphorbia grandicornis Blanc chemical constituents. Kemboi D(1)(2), Langat MK(3), Siwe-Noundou X(4), Krause RWM(5), Isaacs ML(6), Tembu VJ(7). Author information: (1)Department of Chemistry, Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria, 0001, South Africa. kemboidouglas01@gmail.com. (2)Department of Chemistry, Rhodes University, Makhanda (Grahamstown), 6140, South Africa. kemboidouglas01@gmail.com. (3)Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Kew Green, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3AE, UK. (4)Pharmaceutical Sciences Department, School of Pharmacy, Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, Pretoria, 0204, South Africa. (5)Department of Chemistry, Rhodes University, Makhanda (Grahamstown), 6140, South Africa. (6)Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Rhodes University, Makhanda (Grahamstown),, 6140, South Africa. (7)Department of Chemistry, Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria, 0001, South Africa. TembuVJ@tut.ac.za. BACKGROUND: Euphorbia grandicornis is widely utilized in traditional medicine for the treatment of microbial infections including sexually transmitted diseases such as syphilis, gonorrhoea and for healing of wounds. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this work was to isolate and evaluate the antibacterial and anticancer activities of Euphorbia grandicornis chemical constituents. METHODS: Chemical constituents were isolated and identified using various spectroscopic techniques such as IR, MS, and NMR. The single point growth inhibitory potential of the compounds was determined using a 96-well plate based assay. RESULTS: The CH2Cl2 crude extracts exhibited potent antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli ATCC 8739 and Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538 with percentage growth of 94.90 ± 4.24 and 29.47 ± 4.89 respectively. Hence, the CH2Cl2 crude extract was further subjected to column chromatography which resulted in the isolation of methyl 2,5-dihydroxybenzoate (1), n-octyl benzoate (2), friedelanol (3), and germanicol (4) and identification of compounds 12-24 for the first time in the species based on the LC-MS/MS spectroscopic data. The purified compounds (1-4), and previously reported compounds (5-11) were evaluated for antibacterial activities against S. aureus and E. coli, as well as the cytotoxicity effects against HeLa cells. Of the purified compounds, methyl 2,5-dihydroxybenzoate (1), was the most active against E.coli and S. aureus with a percentage growth of 19.12 ± 0.65 and 23.32 ± 0.23 respectively. β-amyrin (6), and β-sitosterol (8), were active against S. aureus with percentage growth of 27.17 ± 0.07, and 47.79 ± 2.99 respectively. CONCLUSION: The results obtained from this study indicate that E. grandicornis, is a rich source of chemical constituents that may provide new lead compounds for the development of antibacterial agents. © 2022. The Author(s). DOI: 10.1186/s12906-022-03571-8 PMCID: PMC8957186 PMID: 35337309 [Indexed for MEDLINE] Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare no conflict of interest. 5. Front Plant Sci. 2022 Jan 3;12:788356. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2021.788356. eCollection 2021. Characterization of a Pentacyclic Triterpene Acetyltransferase Involved in the Biosynthesis of Taraxasterol and ψ-Taraxasterol Acetates in Lettuce. Choi HS(1), Han JY(1), Cheong EJ(1), Choi YE(1). Author information: (1)Department of Forest Resources, College of Forest and Environmental Sciences, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon, South Korea. Triterpenoids exist in a free state and/or in conjugated states, such as triterpene glycosides (saponins) or triterpene esters. There is no information on the enzyme participating in the production of triterpene esters from free triterpenes. Lettuce (Lactuca sativa) contains various pentacyclic triterpene acetates (taraxasterol acetates, ψ-taraxasterol acetates, taraxerol acetates, lupeol acetates, α-amyrin acetates, β-amyrin acetates, and germanicol acetate). In this study, we report a novel triterpene acetyltransferase (LsTAT1) in lettuce involved in the biosynthesis of pentacyclic triterpene acetates from free triterpenes. The deduced amino acid sequences of LsTAT1 showed a phylogenetic relationship (43% identity) with those of sterol O-acyltransferase (AtSAT1) of Arabidopsis thaliana and had catalytic amino acid residues (Asn and His) that are typically conserved in membrane-bound O-acyltransferase (MBOAT) family proteins. An analysis of LsTAT1 enzyme activity in a cell-free system revealed that the enzyme exhibited activity for the acetylation of taraxasterol, ψ-taraxasterol, β-amyrin, α-amyrin, lupeol, and taraxerol using acetyl-CoA as an acyl donor but no activity for triterpene acylation using a fatty acyl donor. Lettuce oxidosqualene cyclase (LsOSC1) is a triterpene synthase that produces ψ-taraxasterol, taraxasterol, β-amyrin and α-amyrin. The ectopic expression of both the LsOSC1 and LsTAT1 genes in yeast and tobacco could produce taraxasterol acetate, ψ-taraxasterol acetate, β-amyrin acetate, and α-amyrin acetate. However, expression of the LsTAT1 gene in tobacco was unable to induce the conversion of intrinsic sterols (campesterol, stigmasterol, and β-sitosterol) to sterol acetates. The results demonstrate that the LsTAT1 enzyme is a new class of acetyltransferase belong to the MBOAT family that have a particular role in the acetylation of pentacyclic triterpenes and are thus functionally different from sterol acyltransferase conjugating fatty acyl esters. Copyright © 2022 Choi, Han, Cheong and Choi. DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2021.788356 PMCID: PMC8762322 PMID: 35046976 Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.