Chemistry
For more details on this topic, see Salvinorin A.The known active constituent of Salvia divinorum is a trans-neoclerodane diterpenoid known as salvinorin A (chemical formula C23H28O8). This compound is present in the dried plant at about 0.18%.
Salvinorin A is not an alkaloid, (meaning it does not contain a basic nitrogen), unlike most known opioid receptor ligands. Salvinorin A is the first documented diterpene hallucinogen.
Similar to many psychoactive herbs, Salvia divinorum synthesizes and excretes its active constituent (salvinorin A) via trichomes, of the peltate-glandular morphology, located just beneath the cuticle (subcuticular) layer.
Read more about this topic: Salvia Divinorum
Famous quotes containing the word chemistry:
“If thought makes free, so does the moral sentiment. The mixtures of spiritual chemistry refuse to be analyzed.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“The chemistry of dissatisfaction is as the chemistry of some marvelously potent tar. In it are the building stones of explosives, stimulants, poisons, opiates, perfumes and stenches.”
—Eric Hoffer (1902–1983)
“...some sort of false logic has crept into our schools, for the people whom I have seen doing housework or cooking know nothing of botany or chemistry, and the people who know botany and chemistry do not cook or sweep. The conclusion seems to be, if one knows chemistry she must not cook or do housework.”
—Ellen Henrietta Swallow Richards (1842–1911)