Intoxicating paricá seeds of the brazilian maué indians

Paricà seeds were reportedly used as a snuff and enema ingredient by the Brazilian Mauù Indians. We analyzed, by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, paricà seeds from the first half of the 19th century. Despite their considerable age, the seeds yielded as much as 15 mg/g of theAnadenanthera alkaloid bufotenin, as identified by retention time on a capillary column and the mass spectrum. This analytical finding supports the view that the seeds originated from anAnadenanthera species.