''Psychotria colorata'' is a species of plant in the family

Rubiaceae The Rubiaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the coffee, madder, or bedstraw family. It consists of terrestrial trees, shrubs, lianas, or herbs that are recognizable by simple, opposite leaves with interpetiolar stipules ...

. It has been documented in an ethnobotanical context among the

Ka'apor The Ka'apor are an indigenous people of Brazil. They live on a protected reserve in the state of Maranhão. They were the subject of a book by anthropologist Dr. William Balée in an exhaustive study of their ethnobotany lifeways and the histori ...

people of

Maranhão Maranhão () is a state in Brazil. Located in the country's Northeast Region, it has a population of about 7 million and an area of . Clockwise from north, it borders on the Atlantic Ocean for 2,243 km and the states of Piauí, Tocantins and ...

, Brazil by Dr.

William Balée William Balée (born 1954) is a professor of anthropology at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana. He was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and educated at the University of Florida, Gainesville, where he received a B.A. in Anthropology bef ...

, the

Tulane University Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private university, private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into ...

anthropologist An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and ...

and historical ecologist: "Fishhooks (pinar) and line (pina-ham) are obtained through trade. The bait is usually worms, but two species of plants serve an intermediate role. Fruits of the rubiaceous forest herb ''Psychotria colorata'' and seeds of ''

Ricinus communis ''Ricinus communis'', the castor bean or castor oil plant, is a species of perennial flowering plant in the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae. It is the sole species in the monotypic genus, ''Ricinus'', and subtribe, Ricininae. The evolution of ca ...

'', a treelet of dooryard gardens, are used for baiting hooks and catching small fish:

characin Characiformes is an order of ray-finned fish, comprising the characins and their allies. Grouped in 18 recognized families, more than 2000 different species are described, including the well-known piranha and tetras.; Buckup P.A.: "Relationshi ...

s called ''pirapisi''. Fishermen cut chunks of the characins as bait for hooking larger, more desirable fish" (Balée 1994: 61). "It is said that a boy should rub leaves of tapesi'i (

Cephalia ''Cephalia'' is a genus of picture-winged flies in the family Ulidiidae. Species *'' Cephalia flavoscutellata'' Becker Becker () is one of the German-language surnames, along with Bäcker and Baecker, that derive from the root, which refers ...

sp. 1) or leaves of ''Psychotria colorata'' (tapi'ika'a), both of which are in the

madder ''Rubia'' is the type genus of the Rubiaceae family of flowering plants, which also contains coffee. It contains around 80 species of perennial scrambling or climbing herbs and subshrubs native to the Old World. The genus and its best-known spe ...

family, between his hands so that upon maturity he will be able to fashion well the manioc press (tapesi), an exclusive task of men" (Balée 1994: 107). Psychotria colorata in cultivation

Extracts from the leaves, flowers, fruits and root of ''Psychotria colorata'' are traditionally used as an

analgesic An analgesic drug, also called simply an analgesic (American English), analgaesic (British English), pain reliever, or painkiller, is any member of the group of drugs used to achieve relief from pain (that is, analgesia or pain management). It ...

by Amazonian cabaclos native peoples. This analgesic effect has been studied in animals and shown to be reversible by

naloxone Naloxone, sold under the brand names Narcan (4 mg) and Kloxxado (8 mg) among others, is a medication used to reverse or reduce the effects of opioids. It is commonly used to counter decreased breathing in opioid overdose. Effects begin within ...

, suggesting a mu opioid receptor mediated effect. Subsequent research has identified several active

alkaloid Alkaloids are a class of basic, naturally occurring organic compounds that contain at least one nitrogen atom. This group also includes some related compounds with neutral and even weakly acidic properties. Some synthetic compounds of similar ...

s in the plant, the most important of which are

hodgkinsine Hodgkinsine is an alkaloid found in plants of the genus ''Psychotria'', particularly '' Psychotria colorata'', although it is also found in ''Psychotria lyciiflora'' and probably other species in this family, Hodgkinsine has antiviral, antibact ...

, which acts as both a mu-opioid agonist and

NMDA antagonist NMDA receptor antagonists are a class of drugs that work to antagonize, or inhibit the action of, the ''N''-Methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR). They are commonly used as anesthetics for animals and humans; the state of anesthesia they induce ...

, and

psychotridine Psychotridine is an alkaloid found in some species of the genus ''Psychotria'', namely '' Psychotria colorata'', but also '' Psychotria forsteriana'', '' Psychotria lyciiflora'', '' Psychotria oleoides'', and '' Psychotria beccarioides''. Psychot ...

which is an NMDA antagonist with little or no mu-opioid affinity.Amador TA, Verotta L, Nunes DS, Elisabetsky E. Involvement of NMDA receptors in the analgesic properties of psychotridine. ''Phytomedicine''. 2001 May;8(3):202-6.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7256518 colorata Flora of Brazil Analgesics