An Efficient Ambient Ionization Mass Spectrometric Approach to Detection and Quantification of the Mescaline Content of Commonly Abused Cacti from the Echinopsis Genus

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, which requires rapid assessment of whether they are mescaline-containing materials or simply innocuous plant-derived food products. In the current project, calibration curves exhibited R2 values of greater than or equal to 0.995, and the method exhibited a LLOQ and a linear range of 1 ppm and 1 degrees C100 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 percent dry weight in all cases. Project researchers conclude that DART-HRMS is a suitable technique for the rapid screening of mescaline and its subsequent quantification within complex plant derived matrices. (publisher abstract modified)