I have been trying to find my source for my claim, and can’t seem to find it anywhere, therefore I must revoke my claim that enzymes are entirely to blame. While the degradation is certainly promoted by powdering because one of the primary factors for degradation is the increase of surface area. The evidence about degradation because of enzymes although well known in fresh samples it is not clear in dry conditions.

I think that it is probably a mixture of factors that leads to degradation and all of them are positively correlated with the surface area that is being increased when powdered. Oxygen from the air is probably the main cause and when very dry enzymes might not be the main culprit, they would still have some effect especially considering that the average person might not have been able to dry the mushrooms.

My thoughts also have been influenced by how the temperature is somehow important in the preservation, it’s somewhat counterintuitive that storing at low temperatures leads to faster degradation.

The paper attached brings out this variable, temperature, apparently the stability is negatively affected by lowering temperature. This might be explained by the breaching of cells that then when defrosted leaves more opportunity for oxidation and possibly enzymes degrading psilocybin to psilocin, which then in turn is more easily degraded.