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. Arch Biochem Biophys. 1987 Oct;258(1):287-91. doi: 10.1016/0003-9861(87)90346-8. Metabolism of monoterpenes: specificity of the dehydrogenases responsible for the biosynthesis of camphor, 3-thujone, and 3-isothujone. Dehal SS(1), Croteau R. Author information: (1)Institute of Biological Chemistry, Washington State University, Pullman 99164-6340. Sage (Salvia officinalis) is shown to contain two electrophoretically distinct dehydrogenases for the respective oxidations of (+)-borneol to (+)-camphor, and of (+)-cis-sabinol to (+)-sabinone en route to (-)-3-isothujone. Similarly, tansy (Tanacetum vulgare) is shown to contain two electrophoretically distinct dehydrogenases for the respective oxidations of (-)-borneol to (-)-camphor and of (+)-cis-sabinol to (+)-sabinone en route to (+)-3-thujone. These results demonstrate that separate dehydrogenases are responsible for the biosynthesis of camphor from borneol and of the thujyl ketones via cis-sabinol, and they also indicate that the previously reported oxidations of various thujanols by the borneol dehydrogenases are only coincidental activities not relevant to the formation of 3-thujone and 3-isothujone. DOI: 10.1016/0003-9861(87)90346-8 PMID: 3310901 [Indexed for MEDLINE]