1. Introduction

Jurema preta is the Brazilian name for Mimosa tenuiflora, one of those rare plants that are both appreciated for their visionary properties and their proven medical uses. Perennial tree/shrub, widely spread in tropical deciduous forests from north-eastern Brazil to southern Mexico, black jurema is an opportunist, a pioneer plant and a survivor, easy to propagate, specially from seed. Here we'll put together some of the published information and research done in the Nexus about black jurema, for anyone interested in working with this remarkable plant – or in researching any of her less known and promising relatives.

2. Taxonomy and Names

Mimosoidae is a subfamily within the Leguminosae family, comprised of about 80 genera of plants including over 3,200 species. Among them, a lot of species belonging to the genus Acacia, Albizia, Anadenanthera, Desmanthus or Mimosa are well known for their medicinal and psychoactive properties. Many species in these groups contain tryptamine alkaloids, and phylogenetic analyses (3) have shown that many tryptamine-yielding Acacias, Anandenantheras and Mimosas are just a few steps away from each other inside of the family. The expression of the genes that enable for tryptamine alkaloids biosynthesis might occur in other closely related genera like Parkia, Calliandra or Piptadenia. Much research is still needed in the phytochemistry and properties of the family.

The portuguese jurema has become a popular name to refer to the widely known and used Mimosa Tenuiflora (MT), often called Mimosa Hostilis. In Brazil, though, jurema does not refer to one plant in particular but rather to a group of “sensitive” plants in the Mimosoidae subfamily. Among them, MT is generally called black jurema (jurema preta), the also rich in tryptamines Mimosa Ophthalmocentra (MO) is red jurema (jurema embira), and according to the researcher Sangirardi Jr, white jurema (jurema branca) corresponds to Pithecellobium diversifolium, while jurema de Oleiras is the less spread Mimosa Verrucosa (5). Other sources (8) point out that different tribes will call Mimosa Verrucosa jurema branca or jurema preta, or suggest Acacia Farnesiana or Piptadenia Stipulacea as jurema branca, so the popular nomenclature may not be conclusive for identification.

In Mexico, Mimosa tenuiflora (MT) is known as Tepezcohuite or Tepescohuite, the “tree of the skin”. This has also become the name of the plant extract, generally obtained from the tree bark, successfully used and commercialized for medical/cosmetic uses.


3. Traditional Use and Properties

Besides the use of both MT and MO by rural communities for wood and charcoal production, both have a long history of medicinal, ritual and visionary use – mainly due to the healing properties of the stem bark, and the high concentrations of DMT in several parts of the plant.

In northeastern Brazil, many indigenous cultures have a long history using Vinho de jurema, jurema wine, a visionary drink. Depending on the location, the composition and name of the preparation vary, but black jurema is arguably the most common ingredient. The root or stem bark is harvested and brewed for a long time. In some afro-brazilian cults, the bark is soaked in sugar cane alcohol, obtaining a preparation called cauim (15). Since oral DMT activation requires inhibition of the MAO enzymes, and beta-carbolines -the traditionally used MAO inhibitors in oral shamanic preparations- appear in MT bark only in small amounts (16), the mechanism for the psychedelic activity of jurema wine is not precisely known. Some suggest MT might contain variable concentrations of unidentified MAOIs, others speculate with beta-carbolines being produced endogenously in the body from the 5HT present in black jurema, and some also point to the use of admixtures like tobacco or passion flower. It has been suggested that the indole yuremamine (12), found in MT bark, might act as a MAOI and thus activate DMT orally. The effects and pharmacology of yuremamine, though, have not been defined conclusively so far.

Also traditionally, both powdered bark and aqueous extracts of the bark have been widely and effectively used in folk medicine for treating burns, ulcers, and wounds with excellent results. Evidence of use reaches back to the Maya civilization, and recently MT bark has delivered spectacular results in the treatment of burns and skin injuries, with a breakthrough in the treatment of victims of the San Juanica natural gas explosion in 1982 and the 1985 earthquake, both in Mexico (9). Research has shown that the healing activity of MT bark is due to a combination of different compounds (tannins, triterpenoid saponins, steroid saponins, polyphenols, phytosterols, lipids and others, besides the alkaloid fraction) (4,9). Pharmacologically, MT bark shows antimicrobial, antifungal, analgesic, regenerative, cicatrizing, anti-inflammatory and anti-aging properties, according to multiple sources. Therapeutic doses are non toxic, and different preparations (powdered bark, gels, tinctures or water solutions) can be used depending on the circumstances. Black jurema is yet another case of a scientific validation for a powerful traditional medicine.

In the last decade, MT (and to a lesser extent, MO) have been broadly used due to its content in tryptamine alkaloids, most notably DMT, and most particularly in the root bark of the tree. However, several studies report significant alkaloid yields in other parts of the plant.

In this article we are focusing on the widely researched and used black jurema, so let's start by taking a look at the tree bark and its reported contents of psycho-active tryptamines.

In samples of six-year-old micropropagated MT in Morelos, Mexico, concentration of DMT in tree bark was found to be significant, particularly during the dry, cool season (0,35% of DMT in january) when compared to the humid, warm season (0,11% in june). The bark of wild trees in Chiapas, México, was reported to have concentrations of 0,2% DMT in the same research, but the season of harvest was not specified (2).

In another study, samples of inner bark stem collected between August and September in several locations in the State of Sergipe, Northeastern Brazil, were analyzed by developing MSPD combined with GC-MS (6). The concentrations found give a mean of 0,31% DMT for inner stem bark samples obtained from humid coastal regions, and 0,58% (ranging from 0,15% to as high as 0,93%) for the samples from semi-arid regions in the same state. This agrees with our findings of apparently high concentration of actives in the stem bark of MT under water stress, and reinforces the correlation between lower humidity levels (either due to season or to regional characteristics) and higher alkaloid yields in the tree bark.

The inner root bark from trees sampled in the humid coastal region showed in the same study a mean concentration of 0,58% DMT (6). Inner root bark was not sampled in the trees from the semi-arid region, but extrapolating the difference between the inner stem and root bark in coastal trees would suggest mean values of 1,1% DMT in the inner root bark of trees growing in the brazilian semi-arid region, when harvested between August and September. Abundant underground research consistently reports concentrations around 1% DMT in MT inner root bark, although the yields can oscillate between 0,2% and as high as 2% (17). This great variability is due to several factors, including season of harvest, geographical location and habitat, and method of extraction.

Several analysis performed on MT whole root bark by Endlessness and others in the DMT-Nexus returned mainly DMT, relatively high concentrations of yuremamine, small amounts of 2-methylcarboline and NMT, and other compounds (catechol, homocatechol, resorcinol, etc.) that are possibly breakdown products of yuremamine and/or lignin when heating up or extracting the plant material (16).

Leaves of MT were collected in north-eastern Brazil for a toxicological study following reports of teratogenic effects of MT in livestock, and the alkaloid content was analyzed (1). TLC showed two major alkaloids, identified by GC-MS as DMT and 2-methylcarboline. Presence of 5HT, Gramine and 5-MeO-DMT was also reported, but the study also concludes that no teratogenic effects are suspected with tryptamine alkaloids, so the supposed teratogenic agent for livestock in leaves and seeds is still unknown.

In mexican six-year-old leaf samples, the concentration of DMT in dry leaves showed big seasonal variations, between 0,01% in the dry season (January) and 0,09% in the humid season (June) (2). Flowers harvested along are reported to have a 0,03% DMT content in January (2) and the seeds produced inside of the lanceolate fruits show no significant alkaloid content (1).

Red jurema (MO) has been reported several times as having high DMT yields in roots, 1,6% from brazilian root harvested in january, plus very small amounts of NMT and hordenine (14).


4. Germination and Care

It is relevant to mention that MT plantlets produced in vitro showed concentrations of 0,1-0,2% DMT, along with similar amounts of tryptophan, tryptamine and serotonin (2). This poses an interesting challenge for anyone interested in tissue culture. Black jurema can be very successfully propagated in vitro, where the use of ten parts of auxin per one part of cytokinin, both plant growth hormones, induces rooting in cultivated shoots (13) . This is relevant information for whoever decides to propagate black jurema using cuttings, but the easiest and most reliable form of propagation starts from seed.

The seeds of black jurema are tough and hardy, with a barely permeable coat. Growing in climates with seasonal rains, where the humidity levels change substantially during the year, the plant adapts by producing dormant seeds - able to survive long, dry periods without losing much viability. Also, MT is a glycophyte – it does not like high concentrations of salt in water.

In the wild, seeds are fully ripe and start to get dispersed by the end of the dry season, and seedlings start to appear in the beginning of the rainy season. However, the seeds that germinate are mainly the old ones, since breaking their dormancy takes time in their natural habitat.

According to germination studies with seeds collected in Chiapas, México, the best results are obtained in temperatures between 20-25ºC. Coat scarification, either mechanical or acidic, returned faster germination and higher germination rates, reaching as high as 95,55%. Light has no effect in germination. The study (11) was performed with four year old seeds, so they can be stored for long periods of time.

A simple and effective method for germination involves nicking them lightly in a side and either give them a soak in warm water or placing them between moist paper towels or filter paper in a warm environment. Under optimal conditions, germination is very fast and takes between 1 and 4 days. As soon as the radicle (the germinal root) is visibly out, it can be planted a few millimeters into well draining soil.

Seedlings of MT also grow fast, 2-5 mm per day, and can be established either outdoors in the proper season or indoors in an artificial environment. When growing outdoors, MT likes open and ventilated spaces, sunlight and soils with medium to low moisture. The axon-like root system develops fast and is soon able to absorb water deep below the soil surface, so black jurema will appreciate having plenty of space for roots, and enough time between waterings to allow the superficial soil to dry and hence stimulate root growth.

As new leaves and stems develop, older leaves will frequently yellow and eventually fall, littering the soil with a pioneering carpet of organic matter, and leaving behind hardened stems in their process of lignification. Plants will often lose their leaves during the cold/dry or winter season, thus decreasing their need for water, and will start producing new shoots in the stem nodes as soon as the temperature, soil moisture and light hours increase sufficiently.

On a side note, Black jurema growing in the brazilian caatinga (dry forest) has shown great nitrogen fixation capacity. That is, symbiotic bacteria in the roots are very efficient at capturing atmospheric nitrogen, with mean contributions to the plant nitrogen reaching up to 68% (7).


5. Growth Control and Harvesting

Traditional apical pruning (topping) can be applied to promote bushier growth. In its natural environment, black and red jurema trees show variable sizes but easily reach 6-8m high, and when it comes to pruning for growth control, or for harvesting the aerial parts of the plant, research has shown that Mimosa species have higher mortality when cut in the wet, rainy season (10), specially in the case of coppicing (collection of the whole tree leaving only the stump to regenerate). Of all the common tree pruning methods, crown thinning (removal of a portion of the small outer branches) doesn't seem to affect survival rates in black or red jurema, specially when performed in the dry season. In the case of red jurema, crown thinning actually increases the survival rates when compared to non-pruned trees, so this method should always be preferred in order to keep MT and MO healthy, when both optimal growth and repeated harvests of the aerial parts of the plant are intended.

We have reported that MT starts producing tryptamines very early (2), and aging seems to have more influence in how the mass of the plant is distributed than in alkaloid production. As shown, the main determining factor in the production of tryptamine alkaloids is the environment. For sustainable harvest, we want to encourage pruning and the use of leaves, following the seasonal stages of development. When it comes to either stem or root material, we suggest gathering it by pruning in the middle-to-late dry/winter season. Then, alkaloid concentrations in MT bark are higher, roots can be more safely pruned along with the stem to keep their relative mass balanced, and pruning will also favor a stronger plant once the new shoots come out in the upcoming wet season.

For plants grown indoors, or under a controlled environment, establishing 2-4 months cycles of water abundance/scarcity and longer/shorter light period will increase alkaloid yields when pruning and harvesting stems and roots in the end of the dry cycle, just before increasing light hours and watering. Leaves can also be partially harvested before the dry cycle starts. As long as the harvested material remains proportional to the size of the plant, and is obtained according to the seasonal cycle, a good development is perfectly compatible with sustainable harvesting; jurema is an experienced survivor, and when treated well she will steadily bear fruit along the way.



Sources and further research

(1) Gardner DR, Riet-Correa F, Panter KE (2011). Alkaloid profiles of Mimosa Tenuiflora and Associated Methods of Analysis. Poisoning by Plants, Mycotoxins, and Related Toxins, pp.600-605
(2) Nicasio MP et al. (2006). Variation in the accumulation levels of N.N-dimethyltryptamine in micropropagated trees and in in vitro cultures of Mimosa Tenuiflora. Natural Product Research vol.19, n.1, pp.61-67
(3) Luckow M, Miller JT, Murphy DJ and Livshultz T (2003). A phylogenetic analysis of the Mimosoideae (Leguminosae) based on chloroplast DNA sequence data. In: B.B. Klitgaard and A. Bruneau (editors). Advances in Legume Systematics, part 10, Higher Level Systematics, pp. 197–220. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
(4) Zippel J, Deters A, Hensel A (2009). Arabinogalactans from Mimosa Tenuiflora bark as active principles for wound-healing properties . Journal of Ethnopharmacology 124, pp.391-396
(5) Sangirardi Jr. P (1983) O índio e as plantas alucinógenas. RJ, Alhambra.
(6) Gaujac A, Aquino A, Navickiene S, Bittencourt de Andrade J (2011). Determination of N,N-DMT in Mimosa tenuiflora inner barks by matrix solid-phase dispersion procedure and GC–MS .
(7) Freitas ADS et al. (2009). Biological nitrogen fixation in tree legumes of the Brazilian semi-arid caatinga. Journal of Arid Environments 74, pp.344-349
(8) Da Silveira Barbosa, YWM (1998). Jurema ritual in northern Brazil. MAPS Newsletter Vol.8 N.3 - pp.27-29
(9) Anton R et al.(1993). Pharmacognosy of Mimosa Tenuiflora. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 38, pp.153-157
(10) Figueirôa et al.(2006). Effects of cutting regimes in the dry and wet season on survival and sprouting of woody species from the semi-arid caatinga of northeast Brazil. Forest Ecology and Management 229, pp.294-303
(11) Camargo-Ricalde SL (1998). Germinación, dispersión y establecimiento de plántulas de Mimosa tenuiflora (Leguminosae) en México. Revista de Biología Tropical, 1998
(12) Vepsäläinen et al. (2005). Isolation and Characterization of Yuremamine, a New Phytoindole . Planta Med 71, pp.1053-1057
(13) Villarreal ML, Rojas G (1996). In vitro propagation of Mimosa Tenuiflora, a Mexican medicinal tree. Plant Cell Reports 16, pp.80-82
(14) Batista et al.(1999). Isolation and identification of putative hallucinogenic constituents from the roots of Mimosa Ophthalmocentra. Pharmaceutical Biology vol.37, n.1, pp.50-53
(15) De Souza et al. (2008). Jurema-Preta: a Review of its Traditional Use, Phytochemistry and Pharmacology. Brazilian Archives of Biology and Technology vol.51, n.5, pp.937-947
(16) Endlessness et al. (2011) DMT-Nexus: Mimosa Tenuiflora (syn. Hostilis) extract analysis thread.
(17) Endlessness et al. (2012) DMT-Nexus: Mimosa Hostilis and Mimosa spp. Workspace
Jamie et al. (2011) DMT-Nexus: Jurema Grow Log

Abbreviations Used

5HT: 5-hydroxytryptamine (serotonin)
GC-MS: Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry
DMT: N,N-dimethyltryptamine
LC/UV/MS: Liquid Chromatography–Ultraviolet-Mass Spectrometry
MAOI: Monoamino-Oxidase Inhibitor
MO: Mimosa Ophthalmocentra
MSPD: Matrix Solid-Phase Dispersion
MT: Mimosa Tenuiflora
NMT: N-methyltryptamine
TLC: Thin Layer Chromatography

to complete the post...
Sensitivae Censitae - A Description of the Genus Mimosa (Rupert C. Barneby, 1991)

Wow! Thanks for that guys. That's more information on Jurema than I've ever seen assembled in one place, and I've been at this for a while.

Well done!

Excellent work vodsel, much appreciated!

What do you guys/gals think, is this thread better here or in the collaborative research subforum?

By the way, this was already linked in the references of the original post but I feel it deserves a special mention: Here's a thread with info on uses/phytochemical analysis/etc of different kinds of mimosa:

Mimosa spp Workspace

My vote is to 'sticky' it in the collaborative research forum.

What about merge/include in endlessness' thread, then sticky if you want?

One of the points of this article, besides having an intro to jurema for new readers, was to compile relevant information in one single source. I would not like to make the information about jurema more scattered than it already is.

also a place to converge new information, if we keep it a sticky.

One thing worth adding here is that M. tenuiflora is said to be hardy to USDA Zone 9a. I'll have to look up the reference again and post it, but I'm in 9a and they survived the past two winters here just fine. And I don't even have them in the ground yet.

I've prepared a PDF with the contents of the original post and a few pictures by the authors. Leaving it here for the Nexus

I just wanted to add another note to the post concerning materials harvested in young, pot grown jurema preta and a successful small extraction.

Through pruning of stems/roots in one specimen during the first 18 months, I gathered approximately 20 grams of dry roots and 15 grams of dry stem bark. The plant material was ground, cooked 3x with white vinegar, reduced, defatted with hexane, basified with NaOH to pH 13,8 and pulled three times with hexane. The pulls were partially evaporated and placed in the freezer for freeze precipitation for 12 hours.

I collected a small amount of nice smelling crystals that slowly became oily at ambient temperature. The weight was estimated making enhanced leaf, and was approximately 60 mg.

A small amount was kept for TLC analysis matching N,N-DMT, and bioassay confirmed this.

The yield (not even 0,2%) is low for 35 grams of plant matter, but considering that whole (thin, feeder type) root was used along with thin stem bark, and the young age of the plant, it's not surprising.

Tasting a little bit of home grown N,N - priceless

Thank you for paving the way, Vodsel!!

Sounds excellent

Thanks !

This is very usefull information for me.

I have 15 little mimosa in their first year growing in a growtent. I've been looking for information on how to keep them healthy and happy. I will be coming back to this page often.

Do you know how many hours of light there are in the winter in the places where they come from ? I pressume since it will be around the equator, the winter will be a little less then 12 hours and the summers a little more then 12.

Since i am now simulating winter in the tent, they get 11-12 hours of light. Does this sound right ?

So you did not use leaf at all? I tried to extract like 5g of leaf and got no noticeable DMT. That's not a lot of leaf though..the stuff weighs nothing.

I have about 20g of dry stems and leaves now from pruning the last 2 months or so, but I don't want to touch the roots..how are you harvesting roots without damaging or uprooting it? Once I have 100g dry from pruning I am going to extract. Most of the weight from pruning is stem but I am just going to extract the leaf and stem together.

The good thing is my tree is growing like 2 inches or more a week with many branches due to pruning and I have been keeping it at about 5 feet until I get another light above the lights I have now so it keeps getting lots of light in different sections. This seems to be the way to do it indoors.

double post

They should be at least 3 maybe 4 feet at one year under ideal indoor conditions..so if they are less than that than something could be improved IME. Are they indoors or outdoors? There really is no need for a grow tent for mimosa, unless they are outdoor and need heat for winter or something.

I had been harvesting leaf for some time and gathered about 25g dry, which I tried to extract before using sodium carbonate and IPA. The final residue was not active, or not concentrated enough to be clearly active, and I did not have means to test with TLC back then... so this time I only used bark shavings (or thin stem pieces) and root.


The last time I potted up the jurema I used two pots. The first was a gridded pot (the type used for hydroponics) roughly the same size as the previous one, and the whole root ball went inside of this one. The second one was larger, and I filled the space between with perlite. For root pruning I removed the gridded pot and harvested all the roots that grew into the perlite. It takes a little work, but this way you keep the main root ball intact and the pruned roots are easier to sift and clean since there is no soil attached to them. (Edit: You can see a picture of the potting in the PDF attached in post #9)

Watering the perlite and throwing in some root stimulator, or fertilizer with good phosphorus ratio, encourages feeder root growth. If you prune both roots and stems to keep the plant mass balanced, you can keep on this way in theory for as long as the plant stays alive. But in order to get a decent amount of root per season you'd need three or four trees, or pretty large pots and a good indoor setup. Mine stayed outside receiving sunlight between april and october, and those are the months where more growth happened.


Whenever you want to reproduce hours of daylight for different latitudes, you can keep this useful tool handy.

I'm nowhere close to be an expert, but AFAIK Mimosa Tenuiflora thrives in latitudes ranging between 20º N and 15º S approximately. This means the hours of light across the year barely change - a couple hours difference at most between solstices, and in some areas of the brazilian caatinga, for instance, they are pretty much stable.

Seasonal changes in the original habitat are more related to temperature and rainfall. Rather than winter and summer in the sense we understand them in the northern hemisphere, you have a dry (cool) season and a humid (warm) season, and those are the environments you would have to reproduce if you wanted your plants to follow their native season differences.

However, I'm over 40º N and the only serious issue to deal with here so far has been the low winter temperatures. With extra hours of light and a proper temperature the plants grow like crazy, and when the light falls below ten hours they slow down and show signs similar to a partial dormancy.

I brought my mimosas indoors about three weeks ago and had to trim off about 120g of fresh leaves and small twigs (mostly leaves) to fit them in the house. I guess that amounts to what would be about 15-18g dry. These trees are about 14mo old.

Anyway, I did an extraction of these trimmings and got a tiny amount of oily goo that didn't smell much like DMT.. only faintly. Couldn't have been more than 20mg worth. It had more of a green smell. I'm guessing I didn't defat it well enough and there was some chlorophyll in there that I was smelling.

Theyre about 4-5 months now. The biggest one is about 30cm. During the summer i kept them in front of my window, now that it gets colder at night, i thought they would be better off in the tent. Also we only have 8-9 hours of light here now, so 12 hours in the tent would be better.

I will post some pictures today.

..this is a great thread..

i thought the table below of Plants known as “jurema” in Brazil (Albuquerque, 1997, 2002) was very interesting [taken from ref #15 above, de Souza et al.]
..gives some good leads for possible entheogenic research..

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Asteraceae
Eupatorium inulaefolium H.B.K.
Mimosaceae
Acacia piahuiensis Benth.
A. riparia Kunth
A. bahiensis Benth.
Chloroleucon foliolosum (Benth.) G. P. Lewis
C. tortum (Mart.) Pitter
C. dumosun (Benth.) G. P. Lewis
Mimosa acutistipula Benth.
M. arenosa (Willd) Poir.
M. ophtalmocentra Mart. Ex Benth.
M. tenuiflora (Willd.) Poir.
M. verrucosa Benth.
M. adenophylla Taub. var. mitis Barneby
Parapiptadenia sp. Piptadenia stipulacea (Benth.) Ducke
P. moniliformis Benth
Pithecolobium diversifolium Benth.
Verbenaceae
Lippia chamissonis Die.
Vitex agnus-castus L.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
.

Thank you, nen

One good practical aspect in research and experimentation with jurema species, when compared to the almighty Acacia genus, is the growth rate. I believe it is possible to obtain results that go beyond the purely analytical sampling after a couple seasons, given a good growing setting.

A note about M. Tenuiflora cycle, regarding the triggers for each growth season: last year I had a little tree I kept outside in late fall (temperatures dropping to minimums around 5-10ºC, average precipitation rates) and, as expected, leaves started to fall. Before hitting officially winter in southern Europe, I brought it indoors with natural light, by a glass door facing east, and continued watering at regular intervals. Light hours and humidity barely changed, and within a couple weeks, as most of the leaves kept falling, the plant started to shoot out many small sprouts in stem and branches.

This suggests the main seasonal trigger for "spring" growth is indeed an increase in temperature.