Volume 242, September 2014, Pages 255-260
REQUIMTE, Laboratório de Toxicologia,
Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade
do Porto, Porto, Portugal
Abstract
Lately, the
hallucinogenic plant Salvia divinorum has been considered a popular
recreational product among adolescents, being legally sold in several
countries in "smartshops" and in internet websites. Sellers frequently
omit the safety information about the plant, encouraging its use for
recreational purposes, without providing adequate qualitative and
quantitative details. The principal hallucinogenic compound of the
plant, salvinorin A, alongside with three other isomeric compounds,
salvinorin B, C and D were evaluated in 10 products containing S.
divinorum. These products were obtained in smartshops and from internet
websites, and contained concentrated extracts of salvinorin A, with
potencies labeled between "5x" and "60x". For that purpose a simple and
rapid extraction protocol and a GC-MS methodology were developed and
applied to the purchased samples. The analysis of S. divinorum samples
allowed the identification of four salvinorins, salvinorin A being the
most prevalent hallucinogen. In the tested samples, there were several
unreliable data provided to consumers. Frequently, there was no
information on salvinorin A concentration, but when it existed, it
generally did not correspond to the true amount present in products. On
the other hand, the concentration of salvinorin A in each product far
exceeded the amount needed to produce hallucinogenic effects. © 2014
Elsevier Ireland Ltd.
Author keywords
Legal drugs; Salvia divinorum; Salvinorin A; Smartshops
Indexed keywords
EMTREE drug terms: salvinorin A; salvinorin B;
salvinorin C; salvinorin D; terpenoid; unclassified drug; clerodane
derivative; diterpene; plant extract; psychedelic agent; salvinorin A;
salvinorin B; salvinorin C; salvinorin D
EMTREE medical terms: analytic method; article;
concentration (parameters); consumer health information; controlled
study; Internet; marketing; mass fragmentography; priority journal;
process development; quantitative analysis; Salvia divinorum; validation
study; chemistry; commercial phenomena; drug labeling; human; mass
fragmentography; Portugal; product safety; Salvia
MeSH: Commerce; Consumer Product Safety; Diterpenes;
Diterpenes, Clerodane; Drug Labeling; Gas Chromatography-Mass
Spectrometry; Hallucinogens; Humans; Internet; Plant Extracts; Portugal; Salvia
Medline is the source for the MeSH terms of this document.
Medline is the source for the MeSH terms of this document.
Chemicals and CAS Registry Numbers: Diterpenes; Diterpenes, Clerodane; Hallucinogens; Plant Extracts; salvinorin A; salvinorin B; salvinorin C; salvinorin D
ISSN: 03790738
CODEN: FSINDSource Type: Journal
Original language: English
Publisher: Elsevier Ireland Ltd
