Potency of brown dried caapi leaves VS green dried caapi leaves

[DesykaLamgeenie]

I just received an order of shade-dried caapi leaves and over half of them are brown. Kind of bummed, since the leaves I got from a different vendor a long time ago were ALL green and beautiful...but should I be? Does the loss/degradation of chlorophyll go hand-in-hand with loss/degradation of beta-carbolines?

 

[keleblin]

It shouldn't make a difference. I'm not entirely sure about the leaves, but I know the beta-carbolines in Caapi vine, even in shredded form, don't degrade under reasonable time scales. In TIHKAL, Shulgin suggests that the Harmaline and THH found in Caapi vine could degrade into Harmine, but the sample in question had been left on a shelf for ~100 years. Without the addition of heat and/or acids, I can't see that conversion happening very quickly.

 

[DesykaLamgeenie]

Great - I figured that'd be the case after thinking more about it since leaves generally lose their green color rather rapidly in comparison with the decomposition of the leaf. Guess the brown just scared me since I was expecting green.

Glad you chimed in; thanks.