Would it be possible to use bristle cone pine needles as as an ayahuasca additive. I have access to many bristle-cone pine trees, some thousands of years old.

can you elaborate on why you would want to use them? is there DMT in them or something?

There have been some studies showing that pine needles are high in anti-oxidants, vitamin A, and vitamin C. They also contain resveratrol, the potent antioxidant and anti-aging compound. The needles might also contain pinosylvin, another potent anti-bacterial agent that is said to be stronger then resveratrol. I have tried the needles myself and they seem to give me a sense of well being and also a lot of energy. The knots from the previous day of backpacking even seem to ease a bit, temporarily of course. I will link to the site that has some papers on this topic. I cannot access them because they all have fees for access.
http://www.elperfecto.co...09/pine-needle-infusion/

Nice post maxzar! I didn't know pine needles had resveratrol!

it seems to me that pine needles would be used in place of lemon juice or vinegar b/c of the vitamin c content. i heard somewhere that pine needles have 8 times as much vitamin c as oranges by weight. would this be a sufficient acid for ayahasca?

I have made pine needle tea while camping several times. If you are lucky, some green sassafras branches are handy and those improve the flavor even more.

Interesting idea re: acidification of brew. I haven't checked the pH of pine needle tea, but it would add a good flavor to the mix.

1000 year old tree.... I need to do a dieta with that tree

Yes, it is quite interesting. I have tried tea with the following pinaceae: White Fir, Ponderosa pine, pinyon pine, limber pine; but still have not tried Pinus Aristata yet. The tea from these trees takes the edge off after a long day of backpacking. I also feel like it helps with inflammation and muscle cramping. However, I would again like to warn some of you that it is not advisable to drink pine needle tea frequently, because some pine needles have poisoned animals. We have very little research on pine needle toxicity in humans.

This is another interesting article I found that might point to mao(i) inhibitation (both A and B for MAO) in ethanol extracts of Pinus eldarica.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih....pmc/articles/PMC3173901/

Here is a bit more information about the composition of white fir needles. It it likely that any of these compounds cause severe reactions when used as an additive to aya?

Chemical structures:

Terpinolene: has shown anti-tumor activity, this is a form of a terpine
Myrcene: astringent, antiviral, and anti-microbial activity
Limonene: evaluated in trials for use as a cancer chemotherapeutic agent. 9
Gallic acid: a tannin that has shown anti-tumor activity

If anyone would like to help with the research, I am going to be doing an extraction of several types of Pine, fir and spruce needles. Please PM me if you have the equipment or desire to help with this, as my chemistry skills are very limited (but Pinaceae needles are abundant here!) I am going to extract with food grade rubbing alcohol, and water. Then I plan to compare the effects at small doses.

I will also test ph levels (possible aya combo, maybe sketchy).

Resveratrol is a polyphenol like many other substances that occur in plants. Many plants that are rich in polyphenols have been used in traditional medicine for thousands of years. Green and black tea, cocoa, grapes, pommegranate, olive oil and many fruits and nuts contain polyphenols and are all marketed as having these health benefits.
Acacia confusa is very rich in polyphenols and said to have these health benefits as well, and is often used in chinese medicine for this reason. This may also be true for mimosa.

Interesting. Thanks, polytrip.