Ayahuasca is a traditional drink indigenous to the Amazonian peoples of the tropical and subtropical areas of South America. The drink has a long history of use within traditional medicine.
It is a decoction made from the combination of:
• Banisteriopsis caapi (yagé or ayahuasca), which contains harmine and tetrahydroharmine (THH), alkaloids of the beta-carboline class, which act as monoamine oxidase (IMAO) inhibitors. ) and that allow the primary psychoactive component dimethyltryptamine (DMT) to become active; and a second plant that is the one that has the DMT itself, especially Psychotria viridis, also known as chacruna; or also Diplopterys cabrerana, known as chagropanga or chaliponga (in the case of the preparation known as yagé).
The consumption of ayahuasca can generate hallucinogenic effects due to the presence of natural DMT from plants such as Psychotria viridis, Diplopterys cabrerana and others. The result of said cooking has several names according to the different towns that prepare them.
• Ayahuasca in Quechua means ‘rope of the spirits’ by its etymology aya (spirit, dead) and waska (rope, rope), 3 since in the worldview of native peoples ayahuasca is the rope, which allows the spirit to come out of the body without it dying. This word is used in Peru, Bolivia and parts of Ecuador.
• Yagé is a Cofán word (it is also found in other sources written as yajé), and is used by indigenous people of the Colombian Amazon and Andes, Ecuadorians and in Peruvian regions near the borders of these two countries.
It is a decoction of the liana Banisteriopsis caapi, but there are other plants that also contain similar substances, such as Colaoriopsis caapi or Peganum harmala (Syrian rue), so they can be used instead of liana, which will give the various ayahuascas great variability in their chemical composition , physical response and psychic effect
Liana Banisteriopsis caapi contains substances known as harmala alkaloids. The main ones are harmine (an active ingredient that before its official classification in 1939 was called banisterin, yagein), and in low concentrations it also contains harmaline and harmalol. This group of β-carboline alkaloids is not exclusive to Banisteriopsis species, it also occurs in the seeds of Peganum harmala or Syrian rue.

One of the most common preparations is the mixture of Banisteriosis caapi with Psychotria viridis, chacruna in one of its native names. It can also be found mixed with Diplopterys cabrerana or chacopranga, or with Mimosa hostilis. These plants would provide the preparation, where appropriate, the molecule dimethyltryptamine or DMT. However, the variability in the composition of the various ayahuascas will be very large, with some additional components such as tobacco or other plants being found in some of its variants. The result is a concoction used in the shamanic rituals of various native Amazonian peoples.