phytochemical studies:

* Alkaloids of the Australian Leguminosae The occurrence of methylated tryptamine alkaloids in a. maidenii Fitzgerald & Sioumis, Aust J Chem #18: 433-4, 1965

In this study bark of a. maidenii was collected and extracted and the alkaloids obtained analysed. The bark yielded o.6% alkaloids by dry weight. The alkaloidal fraction was found to be a mixture of N-methyltryptamine and N,N-dimethyltryptamine, in the ratio of 2:3 respectfully.

* Plants for medicines: a chemical and pharmacological survey of plants in the Aust region, CSIRO, 1990

This work has a reference to a. maidenii bark, collected at Kyogle (NE NSW), as having an alkaloid content of 0.71%. The alkaloids were found to be a mix N-methyltryptamine and N,N-dimethyltryptamine, with a reference to to the above paper (Fitzgerald et al).

* Authors studies 1994-6

After previous work ( see a. obtusifolia), I have spent some time studying a. maidenii. As I had not previously tried an extraction on a. maidenii bark I obtained some and proceeded to extract any alkaloids using the same process I used for a. obtusifolia. As reported in my other article, other people I know have been unable to obtain any substantial basic fraction from the bark. I also found there to be minimal alkaloids present in the bark, 2 kgs yielded less than one gram of a brown gummy matter, that did have a bitter alkaloidal taste and smell, but I would say that there was basically very little alkaloids. I utilised exactly the same process as I have used on a. obtusifolia, where I have now been able to ascertain that the yield obtained is from 0.4 to 0.5 % of the dry weight of the bark, though quite variable.
There is no reference to where the material used in the first paper (Fitzgerald et al) was obtained from, however the collector is noted, W T Jones. In the second study the findings seem based on the first, as there is a reference to the first paper, the collector is the same, but in the second one a location (Kyogle, NE NSW) and voucher specimen no is given. There is also a difference in the actual yields obtained, 0.6% in the first, 0.71% in the second.
Recently I have heard of some people who had tried using bark from species identified as a. maidenii from the Kyogle (NE NSW) area, which is the area where the a. maidenii first found to contain tryptamine alkaloids was sourced from. They found that there was a negligible alkaloid content in the bark. I was also told that someone has been able to extract alkaloids from a. maidenii in the Nowra area, which is on the south coast of NSW, more 1400 km’s from Kyogle and apart from a few isolated occurrences in Vic is pretty well the southern limit of distribution of a. maidenii. A single test on the phyllodes gave a positive test for alkaloids, but no further information is available.
Elsewhere I have heard that in another area people have been able to obtain about 0.3% alkaloids from the bark of a local acacia. After spending quite some time looking at acacias I have come to realise that there can be a lot of variation within a species, it can be pretty difficult to definetly identify some specimens.
There are some reports of the use of a. maidenii as a source of tryptamine alkaloids available on the internet. Though it seems that some work would be needed to definetly sort out the situation, as these results are generally in disagreement with what I and others have found, though being in agreement with past phytochemical studies. Much of the other information seems to be second hand and therefore also requires some more study.
It seems that some people have reported that they have been able to obtain alkaloids from a. maidenii in quite reasonable amounts, but this species seems inconsistant and variable.