Pericine

Pericine is one of a number of indole alkaloids found in the tree Picralima nitida, commonly known as Akuamma. The dried seeds from this plant are used in traditional medicine throughout West Africa, particularly in Ghana as well as in the Ivory Coast and Nigeria. As with some other alkaloids from this plant such as akuammine, pericine has been shown to bind to mu opioid receptors, and has an IC₅₀ of 0.6 μmol, around 6x more potent than codeine when tested in the same assay. However it may also have convulsant effects.