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An Efficient Ambient Ionization Mass Spectrometric Approach to Detection and Quantification of the Mescaline Content of Commonly Abused Cacti from the Echinopsis Genus
Author(s) -
Longo Cameron M.,
Musah Rabi A.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of forensic sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.715
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1556-4029
pISSN - 0022-1198
DOI - 10.1111/1556-4029.14134
Subject(s) - mescaline , dart ion source , cactus , chemistry , gas chromatography–mass spectrometry , chromatography , environmental chemistry , ionization , botany , mass spectrometry , biology , organic chemistry , pharmacology , ion , hallucinogen , electron ionization
Unregulated cacti from the genus Echinopsis are used recreationally as mescaline‐containing alternatives to the outlawed peyote. Echinopsis ‐derived plant materials appear in a variety of nondescript forms, making rapid assessment of whether they are mescaline‐containing materials or simply innocuous plant‐derived food products, very challenging. Reported here is a DART ‐ HRMS approach for the rapid detection of mescaline in whole plant material and a validated method for the quantification of mescaline in cactus tissue, using mescaline‐ d 9 as the internal standard. Calibration curves exhibited R 2 values of ≥0.995, and the method exhibited a LLOQ and a linear range of 1 ppm and 1–100 ppm, respectively. Application of the method to commercially available Echinopsis spp. yielded results consistent with previous studies performed by GC ‐ and LC ‐ MS , with mescaline levels of <2% dry weight in all cases. Therefore, DART ‐ HRMS is a suitable technique for the rapid screening of mescaline and its subsequent quantification within complex plant‐derived matrices.