Is mimosa hostilis active without a MAOi?

When DMT is swallowed, it is destroyed in the stomach by an enzyme called monoamine oxidase. In order to bypass this, DMT may be taken orally with a monoamine oxidase inhibitor (a MAOi). Ayahuasca is simply this orally-activate DMT-MAOi combo. So far so good.

Of course, the active ingredient in mimosa hostilis is DMT. So if we take mimosa hostilis orally without anything else, it won't have any effect, right? Wrong! Many people have reported that mimosa hostilis alone is orally active. Indeed, the traditional way of taking it is to just squeeze the roots in cold water for 15 minutes and drink the water - no MAOi involved.

What's going on here? How is a DMT-containing plant orally active? There are several theories. It is not thought that mimosa hostilis contains any MAOis itself, but it may contain chemicals that have a higher affinity for monoamine oxidase than DMT does, so they sorta mop up all the monoamine oxidase. Another theory is that mimosa hostilis contains chemicals that include DMT, bound within larger structures. The monoamine oxidasebreaks down these large chemicals, leaving DMT, which is then absorbed into the bloodstream.