Psilocybin extraction

They obtained the teonanactl plant from Mexicans whose trust they had won over enough to allow them to participate in a sacred mushroom ceremony. Roger Herr identified the teonanactl mushroom as Psilocybe Mexicana, and he asked Hofmann to do the biochemical analysis. Unable to establish a bioassay for the extracts he made from the mushrooms, Hofmann took the psilocin and psilocybin extracts himself and reported vivid subjective experiences that were similar to those of LSD. LSD, psilocin, and psilocybin were all similar to serotonin in their molecular structure. 

DMT is perhaps the most powerful hallucinogen known to man. It is related to LSD and psilocybin. There are no drug tests that would show DMT usage. None of the basic NIDA-5 drug tests or any extended drug test will show a result for DMT. DMT is naturally formed in the body and has been found in abnormal levels in the body fluids of persons suffering from schizophrenia. DMT is almost never sold through dealers, rarely synthesized, and seldom used. It is, however, easily extracted from common plant materials and has been used in various forms for hundreds of years (timeline.) DMT is not a... 

New insights into neural networks involved in such alterations in consciousness are likely to arise from in vivo imaging in the presence and absence of plant extracts correlated with subjective reports. As recently reported for psilocybin, chemical imaging provides key information on brain areas and transmitter receptors involved. 

Psilocybin liquid comes from pulverized Psilocybe mushrooms. Archeologists in Central and South America have discovered stones, paintings, and slender tubes depicting the practice of extracting and ingesting the liquid. These paintings date back to a.d. 1. This potent liquid, free from the bulky plant material, is then either swallowed or inserted rectally as an enema. Psilocybin liquid is still consumed by both methods by Mexican... 

B. M. Thomson, Analysis of psilocybin and psilocin in mushroom extracts by reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography, J. Forens. Sci., 25 119 (1980). 

Psilocin, the dephosphorylated derivative of psilocybin, is shown here in its relation to tryptamine. Note that N, N-dimethyltryptamine is closely related to psilocin. That tryptophan is a precursor of psilocybin in living organisms has been shown by Brack et al. (1961). Psilocybin and trace amounts of psilocin have been extracted from Stropharia cubensisby Hofmann et al. 

Psilocybin and psilocin were identified as the primary psychoactive components of Psilocybe mushrooms by the renowned Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann in 1958. Hofmann isolated and identified the compounds from samples of Psilocybe mexicana mushrooms collected in Mexico. To identify the compounds that produced the effects on consciousness, he and several of his coworkers ingested fractions obtained from the paper chromatographic separation of the fungal extracts (Hofmann et al. 1958, 1959). 

In the mushroom, the phosphoryl group of psilocybin confers protection against oxidation., Indeed, crystalline samples of psilocybin have been stored at room temperature for decades with no appreciable degradation. Furthermore, psilocybin can even be recrystallized from boiling water, a treatment that would destroy psilocin itself (Nichols and Frescas 1999). Thus, psilocybin is a remarkably stable molecule, particularly when compared with other tryptamines. This stability provides the basis for the extraction of psilocybin mushrooms with hot water for the preparation of ritual teas. 

In addition, it should be noted that results from these analyses of mushroom extracts indicated the presence of a previously unknown alkaloid, which I have named aeruginascin. The molecular stmcture of this substance must be similar to those of psilocybin and baeocystin. It is a compound that is soluble only in polar solvents, such as water, methanol and acetic acid. The levels of concentration of aemginascin found in the fmiting bodies is comparable to those of the other two alkaloids. The compound is characteristic of the Inocybe species, so that the analytical results of mushrooms extracts using thin-layer chromatography constitute a kind of fingerprint identification of Inocybe aeruginascem. 

The first description providing qualitative evidence for the presence of psilocybin and psilocin was provided by Saupe in 1981, who examined extracts of Pluteus salicinus (Pers. Fr.) Kumm. from Illinois. Surprisingly, psilocin turned out to be the alkaloid with the highest levels of concentration in the samples tested. This mushroom species had previously been described in Europe about 200 years ago. Since then, however, it has rarely been mentioned in the literature, and only briefly, if at all (see Figure 37, p. 59). 

Kysilka, R. Wurst, M. (1990). A novel extraction procedure for psilocybin and psilocin determination in mushroom samples. Planta Medica, 56, 327-328. 

These mushrooms contain the psychoactive compound psilocybin and, in some cases, also the lesser active substance psilocin. Psilocybin is highly stable and is not destroyed by cooking or drying. Psilocin is rapidly destroyed by oxidation. Psilocybin can be extracted from the mushroom by boiling the mushroom in water. The exact mechanism of action of psilocybin has not been determined but as an indo-leamine it is thought to act similarly to LSD, as an agonist at 5-hydroxytryptamine receptors in the central nervous system. 

Thomson reported the reversed-phase ion-pair separation of psilocybin and psilocin. Because both alkaloids exist as zwitter-ions, cationic and anionic pairing ions can be used. Alkyl sulfonates (Cg-Cg) and tetraalkyl ammonium (C3-Cg) ions were found unsatisfactory for psilocybin. Good results were obtained with a long chain quaternary ammonium ion, cetrimonium. Optimal conditions for quantitative analysis on an octadecyl stationary phase were 0.15% pairing ion in methanol - 0.4% aqueous phosphate buffer (pH 7.Z). Some other quaternary indole alkaloids have also been separated by means of ion-pair HPLC. Parkin6 analyzed the bisquater-nary alkaloid alcuronium in biological fluids. After an ion-pair extraction, the alkaloid was analyzed on an octadecyl column with the mobile phase methanol - water (4 1) containing O.Z5% acetic acid and 0.005 M dodecylsulfate. 

Column Partisil SCX-10 (250x4.6 nm ID), protected with a precolumn (30x2.8 mm ID) packed with 30 pm pellicular beads, mobile phase methanol - water (1 4) containing 0.2% ammonium phosphate and 0.1% potassium chloride (pH 4.5), flow rate 1 ml/min, temperature 50° C. Peaks 1, psilocybin 2, psilocin 3, dimethyltryptamine (internal standard). Chromatogram a standard mixture, detection UV 267 nm chromatogram b mushroom extract, detection UV 267 nm chromatogram c standard mixture, fluorescence detection ( excitation 267 nm, emission 335 nm) chromatogram d mushroom extract, fluorescence detection. 

Fig. 8.10. Separation of Psilocybe alkaloids Column Parti si 1 5, 6 pm (250x4.6 mm ID), mobile phase methanol -water - 1 M ammonium nitrate (24 5 1) buffered at pH 9.7 with ammonia, flow rate 2 ml/min, detection UV 254 nm. Peaks 1, psilocin 2, psilocybin 3, baeocystin ( in mushroom extract).

Since Peganum harmala seeds provide an easily extracted concentrate of harmala alkaloids, and since this extract, combined with orally ingested DMT or psilocybin evokes an extremely potent psychedelic experience, the following formula is offered. Of all of my various experiments in this field, this one has been the most rewarding. It is so simple that anyone can perform it successfully without specialized equipment. (It doesn t even require de-fatting or extraction with an organic solvent ) Indeed, if one were to forget every other plant in this... 

There is actually no field test for psilocybin mushrooms. There is however, a relatively simple test for the presence of psilocin and psilocybin that can be carried out at home by anyone who has some familiarity with paper chromatography. The mushroom sample is dried, pulverized, and extracted into a small amount of unheated methanol by shaking for half an hour. After the debris in the methanol has settled the paper is spotted with the top fluid in a zone about 2mm. 

Each 100 grams of dried mycelium should yield about 2 grams of extracted material. This should contain at least 500 mg of psilocybin/psilocin mixed or about fifty 10 mg doses. Theoretically psilocin should have the same effect upon the user as psilocybin. The only difference between the two is that the later has a phosphate bond which disappears immediately after assimilation in the body. In other words, in the body psilocybin turns into psilocin. Psilocybin is a fairly stable compound, but psilocin is very susceptible to oxidization. It is best to keep the extracted material in a dry air tight container under refrigeration. A sack of silica-gel can be placed in the container to capture any moisture that may enter. 

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