When I first reviewed the shroom cultivation teks, I was bombarded with the message that heat should scrupulously avoided during the preservation phase. From the MMGG- ?What ever you do, don?t use heat to dry them. Heat is very harmful to the psycho-active compounds. You will drastically reduce the mushroom?s potency if you use heat to dry them.? From the Simple Cubensis Growing Technique- ?It is very important when drying that the mushrooms never be exposed to heat. Psilocybin and Psilocin, the main active chemicals in Psilocybe mushrooms, are very heat-sensitive chemicals that will break down if exposed to heat. You can get away with drying them in the sun, but expect some loss in potency.? But I quickly realized that this subject is vociferously debated in the forums, and the opposite side of this issue claims that ?Psilocybin IS NOT DESTROYED at temps as high as 442F? [Shdwstr, link].
Ya gotta go to the scientific literature for answers when the anecdotal info is at odds. These are the guys that can actually perform quantitative analysis. Unfortunately, the studies are not designed for easy answers to home cultivation questions. I did a little research, and will attempt to share my insight, as biased as it undoubtedly is.
Psilocin is the active indole that is able to pass the blood-brain barrier and get us ripped. Since cubes contain a relatively minor amount of psilocin, most of the shroom effect comes from the conversion of psilocybin into psilocin within our bodies by enzymatic action. It is said that psilocin is 10 times more psychoactive than psilocybin. It is also said that psilocin is 1.4 times more psychoactive than psilocybin. It is further said that they are equally active. These are all accurate statements, within different contexts. It is ten times easier for a molecule of psilocin to pass the blood-brain barrier than a molecule of psilocybin. However, since psilocybin is rapidly (within a half hour) converted to psilocin once inside our bodies, they are essentially equivalent. A psilocin molecule is 1.4 times less massive than a psilocybin molecule, therefore, on a per weight basis, it is 1.4 times more active than psilocybin. But no matter how you cut the cheese, the reality is that on a molecule to molecule basis, psilocin and psilocybin are functionally equivalent in activity.
Since unpreserved harvested animals, plants, and fungi will all rot within a week or two, they must be refrigerated, pickled, dried, frozen, canned, or freeze-dried to remain safely edible. Drying has been demonstrated to be a simple and effective method of preserving cubes. Psilocybin is one of the most stable indole compounds known. The cause of this stability is the protection by its phosphor group against oxidation. Psilocin, on the other hand, oxidizes fairly easily into an O-quinone compound [Horita and Weber ] that is responsible for the blue coloration when cube cells are damaged and psilocin is exposed to atmospheric oxygen.
To gain information on the effects of heat in relation to home preservation of cubes, we must extract mostly incidental references of its effect from scientific studies that do not directly address this issue. Nichols and Frescas synthesized psilocybin crystals and noted that the crystals were ?stable when stored in the cold, but slowly darkened on storage for several months at ambient temperature?.
Beug and Bigwood performed chromatographic analysis of psilocybin and psilocin and found that-
?For quantification of psilocybin and psilocin levels in wild mushrooms, we found that prompt freeze-drying of the fresh-picked carpophores was important. Freeze-dried mushrooms retained their psilocybin and psilocin levels for over 2 years without noticeable loss when stored in a freezer at -60C or at -5C, whereas dried herbarium material often lost all activity after 1 year.? They further noted- ?The recovery of psilocybin and psilocin ?spikes? from Ps. Foenisecii in four trials was 90+/- 7% for psilocybin and 60 +/- 8% for psilocin after freeze-drying and room-temperature extraction. Extraction at higher temperature or in a Soxhlet extractor led to partial or complete loss of psilocin although loss of psilocybin was generally less than 20%. The methanolic extracts could be stored in a freezer at -5C for over 1 year with little change, although storage at room temperature led to complete loss of psilocin and some loss of psilocybin within a few months.?
Catalfomo and Tyler studied the production of psilocybin in submerged cultures of cubes and dried the mycelia pellets ?in a forced-air drying oven at 48C for a minimum period of forty-eight hours and subsequently stored in a desiccator over anhydrous calcium chloride. After determining the pH values of the filtered culture media, the filtrates were evaporated to dryness in a flash evaporator at 40C under reduced pressure. The residues were carefully extracted with 2-ml portions of absolute methanol to dissolve the psilocybin and psilocin, and the solutions were stored in a refrigerator until subjected to chromatographic analysis.?
Gartz states- ?In physiological old mushrooms of Psilocybe cubensis the spontaneous bluing is a sign of a significant decomposition of the alkaloids. But in P. semilanceata , I. aeruginascens , and P. subbalteatus this oxidation process with slight bluing does not cause a significant destruction of psilocybin and baeocystin.? In another study, he found- ??the levels of the unstable substance psilocin decreased during storage. The samples from 1984 were analysed 3 years later, the others only a few days after harvesting.?
What do we get out of all this data? You mileage may vary, but I read that heat below the combustion point has virtually no direct effect on degradation of the actives, however, over a sufficient period of time, it facilitates oxidization, especially in psilocin. This amount of time, in certain circumstances, can be quite long, as residual psilocybin has been detected in 114 year old mushroom samples. Practically, I wouldn?t worry about heat exposure during the drying process, too short a time. Once dry, protection from oxygen is the most important factor. Reduced temperature is a secondary factor, so storage in a cool or cold environment can help. Keep in glass jars, since plastics are just about all semi-permeable to air, particularly ?baggies?. Put an relatively inert gas in with the shrooms to exclude oxygen (CO2, Freon, argon, nitrogen). Light has not been mentioned in the studies that I have found, but it is a factor in the degradation of many organic substances, so is probably best avoided.
What about other preservations? Well, honey has natural antibiotics and sugars that will help ?preserve?, but fresh shrooms contain so much water that spoilage may still occur, and if you dry them first, why bother to re-hydrate them in honey? Never heard of anyone canning cubes, but why not? Freeze-drying is excellent, but don?t know of an easy, cheap method. Vinegar pickling sounds yucky, but ?????? How about a barrel of salt cured shrooms?
I could list references if anyone is interested, but why bother? No one is still reading this shit, they have either given up, or turned to stone by now.
PS- Shdwstr, hope you don't mind the link to your post, as I basically agree with your position.
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