The potent and selective full agonist activity at κ-opioid receptor (KOR) subtypes is primarily responsible for the hallucinogenic effect of the drug. Salvinorin A has a unique mode of action and pharmacology. Pure salvinorin A forms colourless crystals with a melting point of 242–244 oC. The propagation of the plant is thus exclusively vegetative and most of the Salvia divinorum plants now cultivated worldwide are clones of a few early Oaxaca collections.ĭried and crushed leaves fortified with extracts from other leaves are dark green, brownish or even blackish green, due to concentrated pigments. Salvia divinorum hardly ever sets seeds, and even when produced, they are rarely viable. The characteristic flower of the plant has a white corolla surrounded by a violet blue calyx. It can be easily recognised from its square-shaped and hollow stem and opposite pairs of ovate-lanceolate, jagged-edged leaves, which are usually velvety or hairy. Salvia divinorum is a 0.5 to 1.5 metre high perennial shrublike herb. Salvinorin A is unstable in basic solutions and is soluble in conventional organic solvents, including acetone, acetonitrile, chloroform, dimethyl sulfoxide and methanol, but is essentially insoluble in hexane and water. The dried leaves, leaf extracts and pure salvinorin A are stable at ambient temperature in the absence of light or air, although there is no systematic study on this. Unlike classical natural or synthetic hallucinogens, salvinorin A does not contain a nitrogen atom - it is not an alkaloid. The IUPAC systematic name is (2 S,4a R,6a R,7 R,9 S,10a S,10b R)-9-(acetyloxy)-2-(3-furanyl)dodecahydro-6a,10b-dimethyl-4,10-dioxo-2 H-naphthopyran-7-carboxylic acid methyl ester ( CAS number: 8). The main ingredient responsible for the psychoactive effect of the plant is a neoclerodane diterpene called salvinorin A. The chemical identification of the psychoactive principle of Salvia divinorum was completed simultaneously by Ortega and Valdés in the early 1980s. The toxicity of Salvia divinorum is currently poorly understood.
The effective dose of salvinorin A, the active ingredient of the plant, is comparable to that of the synthetic hallucinogens LSD or DOB. Smoking the dried and crushed leaves provides short-lived but intense hallucinations. Since the late 1990s, the use of the plant as a ‘legal’ herbal hallucinogen has been increasing, partly due to its availability. The plant is endemic to a limited area of the highlands of the Mexican Oaxaca state, where the Mazatec Indians ingest its fresh leaves or leaf preparations for divinatory rituals, healing ceremonies and medical purposes. The psychoactive plant Salvia divinorum, or the ‘diviner’s sage’, is a rare member of the mint family ( Lamiaceae formerly Labiatae), characterised in the mid-twentieth century.
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