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Peganum harmala
Peganum harmala, commonly called espand, esfand, wild rue, Syrian rue, African rue, harmel, or aspand, is a plant native to the eastern Iranian region west to India. It has also spread invasively throughout Arizona, California, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Texas and Washington. The plant itself produces seeds which contain harmala alkaloids and is easily accessible and legal to purchase online.
| Peganum harmala | |
|---|---|
 P. harmala in the nature. |
|
| Taxonomical nomenclature | |
| Kingdom | Plantae |
| Unranked | Angiosperms |
| Unranked | Eudicots |
| Unranked | Rosids |
| Order | Sapindales |
| Family | Nitrariaceae |
| Genus | Peganum |
| Species | P. harmala |
| Common nomenclature | |
| Common names | Espand, Esfand, Syrian rue |
| Constituents | |
| Active constituents | Harmala alkaloid |
Pharmacology
Powdered syrian rue seeds act as a reversible inhibitor of MAO-A (RIMA) at doses of 2-5g. Syrian rue seeds contain several different harmala alkaloids at slightly varying percentages. Only some are monoamine oxidase A inhibitors. In one study, total harmala alkaloids were at least 5.9% of dried weight.
- Harmane: 0.16%
- Harmine: 0.44% (the coatings of the seeds are said to contain large amounts of harmine)
- Harmaline: 0.25%
- Harmalol: 0.6%
- Tetrahydroharmine: 0.1%
- Vasicine (peganine): 0.25%<
- Vasicinone: 0.0007%