Magic truffles or Philosopher’s stones: a legal way to sell psilocybin?
Summary & key facts
The researchers made a simple, fast lab test to measure the psychedelic chemicals in so-called "magic truffles" (the sclerotia of Psilocybe fungi). Using that method, they found only psilocybin in the samples they tested, with amounts that ranged from about 60 to 170 micrograms per 100 milligrams of fresh truffle. The test could reliably find very small amounts and showed that truffle potency can vary a lot, which matters for regulation and any discussion about their effects or safety.
- "Magic truffles" are the underground, hardened parts of some Psilocybe fungi that contain the psychedelic chemical psilocybin; they have become a common way people sell those alkaloids because the truffles are not always specifically covered by laws that ban mushrooms.
- The team developed a lab method that uses liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry — a way to separate and then detect tiny amounts of chemicals — after a simple methanol extraction from the truffles.
- The method could detect as little as about 0.3 micrograms and reliably quantify (measure) about 1 microgram of psilocybin per 100 milligrams of fresh truffle.
- The test behaved consistently during checks: calibration results were very linear across the tested range, and the variation when repeating measurements was always below about 15%.
- In the samples examined, only psilocybin was found; psilocin (a related chemical) was not detected.
- Measured psilocybin levels varied from roughly 60 to 170 micrograms per 100 milligrams of fresh sclerotia, which means the same weight of truffles can have several times more or less psilocybin depending on the sample.
Abstract
"Magic mushrooms" is the most common name given to hallucinogenic fungi containing the psychoactive alkaloids psilocybin and psilocin. In recent years, fungis' sclerotia, commonly called "magic truffles" have become a form of supply of psychoactive Psilocybe alkaloids since Psilocybe sclerotia are not specifically included in the laws banning the sale, the purchase and the use of such substances and mushrooms containing them. A liquid chromatography -tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method was developed for the rapid determination of psilocybin and psilocin in Psilocybe sclerotia. Following a simple step extraction with methanol, the alkaloids were separated on a reversed-phase column using a gradient of 0.1% formic acid - acetonitrile s a mobile phase at a flow rate of 0.2 mL/min.. Separated analytes were detected by electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry in the positive ion mode using multiple reaction monitoring. The developed method was linear over the calibration range for all two substances under investigation, with a r(2) > 0.99. The detection and quantification limits were 0.3 µg and 1 µg per 100 mg truffles, for both psilocin and psilocybin and the intra- and inter-day coefficients of variation were always better than 15%. Using this method, the presence of only psilocybin was demonstrated in examined Psilocybe sclerotia. The content of psilocybin was found to vary over a concentration range of 59.3 to 167.8 µg per 100 mg of fresh sclerotia.
