Psilocybin/Psilocin extraction

[Jupitor]

Does anyone know if the same process used to extract DMT from raw material could be used to extract the alkaloids from mushrooms, or even fully colonized mycelial growth substrate (like PF tek cakes, for example)? It would be handy for many reasons (stealth, time, ease, etc) to be able to simply inoculate spawn jars and then once fully colonized, extract the alkaloids. Thoughts?

Also, due to VOC laws in my area, I am unable to buy Naphtha at any local hardware store. They now sell a "paint thinner substitute", which is meant to replace Naphtha, Toluene, and Xylene. Anyone know if that would be a suitable solvent to use for such extractions?

 

[downwardsfromzero]

There's a thread about psiloc(yb)in extraction already. The process is very different from that of DMT extraction. The mushroom alkaloids are more fragile and do not like basic conditions.

Psilocybin is pretty soluble in hot water, remember. Also it's a zwitterion so paint thinners are of little use, except maybe for defatting. The substitute that you mention is probably water miscible or contains polyethoxylated surfactants, likely both, so it's (deliberately) useless for this kind of stuff.

 

[concombres]

Does anyone know if the same process used to extract DMT from raw material could be used to extract the alkaloids from mushrooms, or even fully colonized mycelial growth substrate (like PF tek cakes, for example)? It would be handy for many reasons (stealth, time, ease, etc) to be able to simply inoculate spawn jars and then once fully colonized, extract the alkaloids. Thoughts?

Also, due to VOC laws in my area, I am unable to buy Naphtha at any local hardware store. They now sell a "paint thinner substitute", which is meant to replace Naphtha, Toluene, and Xylene. Anyone know if that would be a suitable solvent to use for such extractions?

There is a thread on psilocybin extraction here somewhere. IIRC it is different than a DMT extraction & the end product is not highly refined. Potent sure, but far from pure psilocybin.

 

[Jupitor]

Yes I've heard of the water or alcohol "extractions", but was hoping for a method that yields a more pure powder. I guess I'm SOL on that one. Very interesting that it's so different, since the molecules are almost identical.

 

[blue.magic]

I've recently found this procedure:

https://www.trufflemagic.com/blog/simple-method-psilocybin-extraction/

It starts with simple 200 proof ethanol extraction but it says psilocybin can be crystallized by adding HCl, washing with naphtha and acetone. The residue is then dried yielding "transparent crystals".

It is known that the psilocybin extract (MeOH or EtOH) can be washed with acetone, benzene, chloroform and supposedly naphtha as well.

Maybe by slow evaporation of solvent will allow crystals to form. Of course this will remove the psilocin if not already destroyed by drying.

It would be a very nice experiment to perform successive washings with the above solvents and let every intermediate extract slowly evaporate to observe possibly different crystals.

 

[Loveall]

I've recently found this procedure:

https://www.trufflemagic.com/blog/simple-method-psilocybin-extraction/

It starts with simple 200 proof ethanol extraction but it says psilocybin can be crystallized by adding HCl, washing with naphtha and acetone. The residue is then dried yielding "transparent crystals".

It is known that the psilocybin extract (MeOH or EtOH) can be washed with acetone, benzene, chloroform and supposedly naphtha as well.

Maybe by slow evaporation of solvent will allow crystals to form. Of course this will remove the psilocin if not already destroyed by drying.

It would be a very nice experiment to perform successive washings with the above solvents and let every intermediate extract slowly evaporate to observe possibly different crystals.

The defat steps in the linked procedure don't make sense since ethanol would be miscible, or am I missing something? It is generally recommended to defat upfront before extracting.

That being said, there has not been much experimenting in this area. Now a days we have cheap centrifuges and HPBCD available to us, maybe we can come up with a new way (or at least have some fun trying).

 

[DoingKermit]

Maybe I'm missing something too. It all seems to make sense until the addition of acetone, which is polar (for the most part) and therefore miscible with the ethanol. Unless they are saying to add acetone to the naphtha, but that wouldn't make sense either, as the naphtha would be used as a cleaning step.

 

[blue.magic]

Maybe I'm missing something too. It all seems to make sense until the addition of acetone, which is polar (for the most part) and therefore miscible with the ethanol. Unless they are saying to add acetone to the naphtha, but that wouldn't make sense either, as the naphtha would be used as a cleaning step.

Surely the acetone will pull some ethanol with it. It may not matter depending on the psilocybin solubility in acetone/ethanol mixture. The ethanol extract is already pretty concentrated so maybe the loss of product caused by acetone wash would be negligible. Psilocybin is said to be difficultly soluble in ethanol anyway. Note the ethanol should be 200 proof (i.e. anhydrous) which makes more sense. Presence of water might cause loss of product in the acetone wash as - unlike with ethanol - psilocybin is much more water soluble.

I understood this procedure as simply washing the resin and one should end up with some kind of sticky residue containing acetone/ethanol/naphtha which are left to evaporate and the residue should harden into some kind of crystalline stuff.

I guess letting the residue dry completely before applying new solvent wash would be the best course of action, but the tek seems to be tradeoff between yield/purity and simplicity.

 

[downwardsfromzero]

Well, Albert Hoffman used butanol, ammonia and acetic acid - so, a buffered butanol solution - to extract psilocybin. That paper is probably worth a look.

Psilcybin's a tricky molecule, being a zwitterion.

Maybe I'm missing something too. It all seems to make sense until the addition of acetone, which is polar (for the most part) and therefore miscible with the ethanol. Unless they are saying to add acetone to the naphtha, but that wouldn't make sense either, as the naphtha would be used as a cleaning step.

The acetone is added after evaporating the tincture down to 10% of it's original volume. It would appear that this step removes fats and sugars and the remaining material is mostly psilocybin - which, presumably, is insoluble in acetone/ethanol.

Acetone perhaps also facilitates the removal of the last remnants of aqueous ethanol and then evaporates easily itself.

 

[antares]

Also, due to VOC laws in my area, I am unable to buy Naphtha at any local hardware store. They now sell a "paint thinner substitute", which is meant to replace Naphtha, Toluene, and Xylene. Anyone know if that would be a suitable solvent to use for such extractions?

Can you order panel wipe online where you live? Car body shops use it for cleaning panels before painting. Buy the fast drying type. It evaporates without leaving any residue. It is usually top quality naptha.
Search automotive paint suppliers instead of general purpose hardware stores and you will find what you need.

 

[DoingKermit]

Looks like I had missed something! Thanks people.

 

[Running Bear]

This is what I do. It's not a pure powder but liquid psilocybin is awesome... He says to let it sit for 24 hours but let it sit for a week or 2 for each pull.. You want to use everclear 190 proof. I tried using everclear 151 and it didnt turn out very good so i would at least use 190. When im done I like to have 1cc for each gram of Psilocybe Cubensis. Unlike him if I was using panaeolus cyanescens I would want my finished product to be 3cc for each gram because it would be easier to dose and have less water in it because alcohol evaporates faster. This is a great way to take shrooms and the experience feels nice and smooth.
[youtube]

 

[blue.magic]

This is what I do. It's not a pure powder but liquid psilocybin is awesome... He says to let it sit for 24 hours but let it sit for a week or 2 for each pull.. You want to use everclear 190 proof. I tried using everclear 151 and it didnt turn out very good so i would at least use 190. When im done I like to have 1cc for each gram of Psilocybe Cubensis. Unlike him if I was using panaeolus cyanescens I would want my finished product to be 3cc for each gram because it would be easier to dose and have less water in it because alcohol evaporates faster. This is a great way to take shrooms and the experience feels nice and smooth.
[youtube]

Excellent to know it really works.

The only concern I have with tincture is the shelf life. Do you have experience with potency loss over say months?

 

[U gO]

Could be outdated and i did not tryed it but could worth an effort

 

[Jupitor]

Also, due to VOC laws in my area, I am unable to buy Naphtha at any local hardware store. They now sell a "paint thinner substitute", which is meant to replace Naphtha, Toluene, and Xylene. Anyone know if that would be a suitable solvent to use for such extractions?

Can you order panel wipe online where you live? Car body shops use it for cleaning panels before painting. Buy the fast drying type. It evaporates without leaving any residue. It is usually top quality naptha.
Search automotive paint suppliers instead of general purpose hardware stores and you will find what you need.

Thanks I will look into it!

 

[blue.magic]

Could be outdated and i did not tryed it but could worth an effort

Yes this is quite outdated. The crystals have been bioassayed and and are not psilocybin - it's probably sugars or something else from the mushrooms. Just the quantity does not match actual amount of psilocybin you should get.

Other than that, it's an alcoholic extraction that works quite well.

 

[Running Bear]

This is what I do. It's not a pure powder but liquid psilocybin is awesome... He says to let it sit for 24 hours but let it sit for a week or 2 for each pull.. You want to use everclear 190 proof. I tried using everclear 151 and it didnt turn out very good so i would at least use 190. When im done I like to have 1cc for each gram of Psilocybe Cubensis. Unlike him if I was using panaeolus cyanescens I would want my finished product to be 3cc for each gram because it would be easier to dose and have less water in it because alcohol evaporates faster. This is a great way to take shrooms and the experience feels nice and smooth.
[youtube]

Excellent to know it really works.

The only concern I have with tincture is the shelf life. Do you have experience with potency loss over say months?

Yeah it definitely lasts months but years im not sure about. This is something im going to test over a 3 year period to see how long it stays potent. I think a few of us on the nexus should mess around with these alcohol tinctures and master it. For me the 151 didn't work very well and I also destroyed some because i used heat. A cold extraction with 190 proof works. Im not 100% sure if letting it sit for more than 24 hours a pull really helps but it can't hurt.

 

[Bobbit]

Hi All,

First post, so be gentle

I have seen experiments with MeOH extracts of P.cubensis.

Seems to work well, and research suggests that the phosphatases are left behind.

Dried to 'honey' goo in dehydrator

Extracts redissolved in EtOH:

Currently awaiting durability trials:
1 week: Active
4 weeks: Active
8 weeks: Active
12 weeks: Pending
26 weeks: Pending
52 weeks: Pending
104 weeks: Pending

Sample left in freezer for 1 week, no obvious precipitate formed. Will update when time has passed.

I've recently found this procedure:

https://www.trufflemagic.com/blog/simple-method-psilocybin-extraction/

It starts with simple 200 proof ethanol extraction but it says psilocybin can be crystallized by adding HCl, washing with naphtha and acetone. The residue is then dried yielding "transparent crystals".

It is known that the psilocybin extract (MeOH or EtOH) can be washed with acetone, benzene, chloroform and supposedly naphtha as well.

Maybe by slow evaporation of solvent will allow crystals to form. Of course this will remove the psilocin if not already destroyed by drying.

It would be a very nice experiment to perform successive washings with the above solvents and let every intermediate extract slowly evaporate to observe possibly different crystals.

Much easier to use 100% MeOH as it doesn't have azeotrope issues with water.

If Acetone or similar were used, I assume it would be used with the MeOH solution? Then separated and evaporated separately and both results tested?

I'd also seriously question the 200proof extraction idea as the dried extract (honey) from MeOH refused to dissolve in 93% EtOH (2 days) until diluted with Water. I went to 50% with distilled water and it started dissolving immediately (15 mins).