Ive heard that salvinorin / Salvia divinorum is not orally active, is that true?
Some authors have said that salvinorin is not at all active when swallowed, but this appears to be a misunderstanding. One traditional mazatec use of Salvia divinorum involves swallowing a liquid infusion / tea which causes strong effects lasting several hours. Daniel Siebert attributes low activity of infusions, solutions and leaves of salvinorin to inactivation of the compound in the stomach (Siebert 1994), but has never mentioned a mechanism for this inactivation. Leander Valds postulates a possible mechanism for inactivation (if it occurs) as “I can theorize a possible deactivation mechanism – acid catalyzed hydrolysis of the acetate in the stomach, converting salvinorin A to salvinorin B plus acetic acid (and possibly base catalyzed hydrolysis in the intestines). But taking an infusion of leaves can give a pretty strong experience which can last several hours (up to 4-6 or so).” Ott speculates (Ott 1995) that pure salvinorin would not be well absorbed and in a discussion of the is
