Acacia rigidula

General Plant Info

Acacia rigidula or Vachellia rigidula, commonly known as Blackbrush Acacia or Chaparro Prieto, is a species of shrub or small tree in the legume family, Fabaceae. This perennial is not listed as being threatened. It reaches a height of Template:Convert. Blackbrush Acacia grows on limestone hillsides and canyons.

Geographic distribution

Its native range stretches from Texas in the United States south to central Mexico.

Alkaloid content

DMT, NMT, tryptamine, amphetamines, mescaline, nicotine and others, but this report is in serious question due to reference standards problems (clement et al 1998 ref Trout's Notes)

A phytochemical study of V. rigidula by workers at the Texas A & M University Agricultural Research and Extension Center at Uvalde, TX, reported the presence of over forty alkaloids, including low amounts (up to ~ 15 ppm) of several amphetamines that had previously been found by the same research group in the related species Senegalia berlandieri, but which otherwise are known only as products of laboratory synthesis. Compounds found in the highest concentrations (ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand ppm) were phenethylamine, N-methylphenethylamine, tyramine and N-methyltyramine. Other notable compounds reported were N,N-dimethyltryptamine, mescaline, and nicotine, although these were found in low concentrations (e.g. mescaline at 3-28 ppm).

The presence of such an unprecedented chemical range of psychoactive compounds, including ones not previously found in nature, in a single plant species has led to the suggestion that some of these findings may have resulted from cross-contamination or were possibly artifacts of the analytical technique.

Other uses

Blackbrush Acacia is used in weight loss dietary supplements because of its adrenergic amine content. These compounds are claimed to stimulate beta-receptors to increase lipolysis and metabolic rate and decrease appetite.