Cocaine and Cinnamoylcocaine Content of Erythroxylum Species

Abstract

The dried leaves of 31 species and two varieties of the genus Erythroxylum were quantitatively analysed for cocaine and both cis- and trans-cinnamoylocaine, using a stable-isotope dilution method and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry selected-ion monitoring. Both cocaine and cinnamoylcocaine were detected in all four varieties of cultivated coca (E. coca var. coca, E. coca var. ipadu, E. novogranatense var. novogranatense and E. novogranatense var.truxillense). Cinnamoylcocaines (cis and trans) were found in much higher concentrations in both varieties of E. novogranatense than in either variety of E. coca. Amazonian coca (E. coca var. ipadu) contained consistently lower cocaine levels than the montane variety (E. coca var. coca). Twenty-nine wild species of Erythroxylum, selected to represent morphological, ecological and taxonomic diversity, were analysed for the same alkaloids; cocaine was detected in 13 neotropical species, representing five sections of the genus. No cocaine was detected in the Old World species. Two wild species from Venezuela, E. recurrens and E. steyermarkii, contained cocaine levels comparable to those found in the commercially cultivated species.