BOTANICAL MUSEUM LEAFLETS VoL. 28, No. 3 
SEPTEMBER 1980 
CHAMAIRO: MUSSATIA HYACINTHINA — 
AN ADMIXTURE TO COCA FROM AMAZONIAN 
PERU AND BOLIVIA 
TIMOTHY PLOWMAN 
INTRODUCTION 
The custom of chewing coca, whether whole coca leaves in the 
Andes or pulverized coca in the Amazon, is a relatively well 
known practice (Plowman, 1979, 1981). However, very little has 
been written about the numerous admixtures employed in coca 
chewing or about the plant masticatories employed as coca 
substitutes. 
Coca-chewing peoples in different ecological zones have 
discovered many alkaline source materials which serve to 
“sweeten” and potentiate the coca quid, apparently by increasing 
the absorption of the alkaloids by the mucous membranes 
(Rivier, 1981). The alkaline substances habitually added to the 
coca quid are derived from mineral (limestone, clay), animal 
(bones, sea shells) or vegetable (plant ashes) sources. The 
particular materials used and their preparation vary greatly 
from region to region, and some preparations may be very local. 
The vegetable sources of alkali which serve as coca admix- 
tures include the following: ashes of leaves (Cecropia spp., 
Pourouma spp., palms), stems (Vernonia sp.), bark (Styrax 
anthelminticum R. E. Schult.), roots (Vicia faba L., Musa X 
paradisiacum L.), fruits (Theobroma Cacao L., Trichocereus 
sp.), infructescenses (Zea Mays L.) or whole plants (Chenopo- 
dium Quinoa Willd., C. pallidicaule Aellen, C. ambrosioides Lb), 
Unfortunately, we still know very little about the chemical 
compositions of the ash residues of these plant materials, about 
their preparations for coca chewing or about their pharma- 
cology in the mouth. Only two studies have considered in depth 
Assistant Curator, Botany Department, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, 
Illinois and Research Associate, Botanical Museum of Harvard University, Cambridge, 
Massachusetts. 
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