No. DMT is ayahuasca’s primary psychoactive compound, but the brew is not interchangeable with DMT alone. Taken orally without the vine, DMT is destroyed in the digestive system before it reaches the brain. Ayahuasca works because the Banisteriopsis caapi vine contributes beta-carboline alkaloids, harmine, harmaline, and THH, that disable the enzyme responsible for that breakdown, allowing DMT to become orally active. Remove the vine, remove the effect. The experience reflects the full pharmacological interaction between all compounds (MDPI Pharmaceuticals, 2020; White et al., 2024).
