Syrian Rue (Peganum Harmala) Whole Seeds 25g

1. Syrian Rue (Peganum harmala) — 25 g whole seeds

Twenty-five grams of whole Peganum harmala seed. Syrian rue is a hardy perennial of the steppes and deserts from the eastern Mediterranean across to India and Mongolia, and it has one of the longest continuous records of ritual and medicinal use of any plant in that region.

The seeds contain harmine, harmaline and related beta-carboline alkaloids. Those compounds are monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs), and that single fact is the most important thing on this page. It is why the cautions here are longer and more serious than for anything else in this shop.

The seed is also used as a red-orange textile dye, and burned as incense across Iran, Turkey and Central Asia under names including esfand and harmal. Those are the uses we sell it for.

2. Specifications

3. Why an MAOI is different from everything else we sell

This is not a caution to skim. Monoamine oxidase is an enzyme that breaks down neurotransmitters and, critically, dietary amines. Inhibit it and things that are ordinarily harmless stop being harmless.

3.1 The food interaction

MAO inhibition blocks the breakdown of tyramine, an amine present in many everyday foods. Accumulated tyramine causes a sudden, severe rise in blood pressure — a hypertensive crisis, which is a medical emergency and can be fatal. This is well documented from decades of clinical experience with prescription MAOIs, and the foods involved are ordinary ones:

• Aged and mature cheeses. The classic example, and the reason it is called the “cheese reaction”.
• Cured, smoked and fermented meats — salami, chorizo, aged sausage.
• Fermented soy products — soy sauce, miso, tempeh.
• Yeast extracts — Marmite, Vegemite, stock cubes.
• Broad beans, sauerkraut, overripe fruit, some fish.
• Draught beer, red wine and other fermented drinks.

3.2 The drug interactions

• Never with SSRIs, SNRIs, tricyclics or any antidepressant. Combining two serotonergic agents risks serotonin syndrome, which is a medical emergency.
• Never with another MAOI, prescription or plant-derived.
• Never with stimulants — including amphetamines, cocaine, MDMA, and over-the-counter decongestants such as pseudoephedrine.
• Never with triptans (migraine medication), tramadol, pethidine or dextromethorphan (in cough medicines).
• Never with other kratom, kanna or psychedelic products, including several sold on this site.
• Check every medication you take with a pharmacist before going anywhere near an MAOI. The interaction list is long and it includes ordinary things.

We sell this seed for incense, dye and ethnobotanical interest. Anyone considering any other use needs to have read and understood the two lists above first, and to have spoken to a pharmacist about every medicine they take.

4. Growing and traditional use

4.1 Growing it

1. Sow shallow in a very free-draining mix — sand or grit-heavy. It is a desert plant and it hates wet feet.
2. Full sun and warmth. Germination is best in the high teens to low twenties Celsius.
3. Water sparingly. Established plants are drought-tolerant to the point of being difficult to kill by neglect.
4. Give it room. It is a spreading perennial with a deep root and it does not transplant well once established.
5. Note before you plant it out: Peganum harmala is a listed noxious weed in parts of the United States and Australia because it colonises disturbed ground aggressively. In a Dutch garden that is not a practical concern, but it is worth knowing what you are planting.

4.2 As incense

The traditional use across Iran, Turkey and Central Asia is to burn the seed on charcoal, where it pops and produces a distinctive, resinous smoke. It is used at gatherings, in homes and at thresholds, and the practice is old enough to be recorded in Zoroastrian sources. Burn it in a ventilated room as you would any incense.

4.3 As a dye

The seed yields a red to orange dye, historically used for wool and carpets across Anatolia and Persia. It is one of the traditional sources of the reds in old carpets from the region.

5. Cautions

• The alkaloids in this seed are MAO inhibitors. Read section 3 in full before considering any use beyond incense or dye.
• Never combine with the foods or drugs listed in section 3. A hypertensive crisis or serotonin syndrome is a medical emergency, not an unpleasant evening.
• Not for anyone under 18, pregnant or breastfeeding — harmala alkaloids are documented uterine stimulants.
• Not for anyone with high blood pressure, a heart condition, or liver or kidney problems.
• Nausea and vomiting are commonly reported with ingestion.
• Speak to a pharmacist about every medication you take before going near an MAOI.
• Keep out of reach of children and pets. Burn as incense only in a ventilated room.

Aged cheese, soy sauce, salami, Marmite, red wine. With an MAOI in your system those stop being food and start being a blood pressure emergency.