nen888 said:..virtually all recent studies of the repeatedly confirmed anxiolytic and sedative effects of P. incarnata conclude that the effects are due to the flavonoids..there are not enough harmalas in standard doses to do this..this is not merely theoretical, and neither is the MAOI and benzadiazopine activity of flavonoids..
..at 0.2% this would equate to 600mg from 300grams dry herb..Gracie and Zarkov [1986] put the content at up to 0.5% harmala alkaloids..The portion of the ethanol extract of Passiflora incarnata which was soluble in dilute phosphoric acid was made slightly basic with sodium hydroxide and then extracted continuously with ether for several days...Only small amounts alkaloids were extracted...(Further continuous extraction with a mixture of methylene chloride and methanol over a period of a week yielded an extract considerably higher in alkaloid content.)
Menghini A, Mancini LA. TLC determination of flavonoid accumulation in clonal populations of Passiflora incarnata L. Pharmacol Res Commun . 1988;20(suppl 5):113-116.; Duke J. CRC Handbook of Medicinal Herbs . Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press; 1985: 347.Flavonoid content (2.5%) includes flavone di-C-glycosides shaftoside, isoshaftoside, isovitexin (found in highest concentration between preflowering and flowering stages in 1 report), iso-orientin, vicenin, lucenin, saponarin, and passiflorine.
AlbertKLloyd said:I've heard reports of activity of very low doses of harmala alkaloids.
They can be curiously active in this way.
Ott for example reports that harmaline potentiated Bufotenine at a dose of 0.11 mg/kg.
I weigh 80kg, so for this type of effect i would require a dose of just under 9mg of harmaline to get this effect, this is far less than would be required to orally activate dmt, but there is a mild sedative/calming effect at these doses.
And while cigarette smokers do not ingest large doses of harmala alkaloids there are studies showing significant effects from the small amounts they do ingest:
h++p://biopsychiatry.com/maoi-smoke.htm
(note that harman is rather potent as an MAOI)
There is some decent evidence that very low doses of harmala alkaloids are fairly psychoactive.
I'd expect 5mg of many harmala alkaloids to be a strong enough dose to achieve mild sedation and mild potentiation.
I've read of a range of concentrations from about 0.1 to 0.5% harmala alkaloids for P. incarnata. I'd expect then that the dose for mild sedative effects ranges from 10-50 grams of material. In terms of extracts i'd expect doses to follow a similar pattern. A 10 X extract would require 1-5 grams of material etc.
[from Passion Flower Uses, Benefits & Dosage - Drugs.com Herbal Database]..this is very interesting..there are a few varieties of P. edulis..Quantitative analysis of different plant parts from P. incarnata and P. edulis indicate that P. edulis leaves have the highest alkaloid content, and that fruit rinds contain approximately 0.25% alkaloids. Seeds and root tissue have the lowest alkaloid content. These findings may have economic importance. P. edulis fruit rinds, by-products of passion fruit juice production, may provide an economical source of alkaloids.