Psychoactive Compound

A psychoactive compound is a neutral scientific term for a substance that affects consciousness and perception. In discussions of the ayahuasca sacrament, the primary psychoactive compound is DMT (N,N-dimethyltryptamine), found in admixture plants such as chacruna, alongside harmine, harmaline, and tetrahydroharmine — beta-carboline alkaloids present in the Banisteriopsis caapi vine.

Pharmacological research describes the vine's beta-carbolines as reversible inhibitors of monoamine oxidase, the enzyme that would otherwise break down DMT before it could take effect — one reason the two plants are traditionally combined rather than used alone. ECC uses this term only in educational or scientific contexts; within its religious practice, the brew is approached and described as a sacrament received in ceremony, not as a chemical compound administered for its pharmacological effect.