Variation of psilocybin and psilocin levels with repeated flushes (harvests) of mature sporocarps of Psilocybe cubensis (earle) singer

Morphological and chemical analysis of magic mushrooms in Japan

“…P. cubensis samples also had a tendency to contain larger amounts of psilocybin than psilocin. This tendency is consistent with results reported by Bigwood and Beug [4]. On the other hand, the contents of hallucinogenic alkaloid (psilocin/psilocybin) in Copelandia were 0.43-0.76%/0.08-0.22% in the whole body.…”

“…There are several reports on the contents of psilocin and psilocybin in magic mushrooms [2,[4][5][6][7][8]. Differences in the psilocin and psilocybin contents of the fruit bodies depends on factors such as species, developmental stages, climatic conditions and the availability of soluble nitrogen and phosphorous in the soil [9,10].…”

Occurrence and use of hallucinogenic mushrooms containing psilocybin alkaloids

“…Fr., Inocybe aeruginascens has subsequently caused accidental hallucinogenic poisonings in previous East-Germany and Hungary (Drewitz, 1983;Drewitz, 1985, 1986;Gartz, , 1989. Other cases of miss-identification of food mushrooms have been described by Bigwood and Beug (1982), Rold (1986), Raff et al (1992) and Calvino et al (1998).…”

“…When Bigwood and Beug (1982) analysed five street samples of Psilocybe cubensis for which the flush number or the precise growing condition were unknown, variable levels of psilocybin (700-6 200 mg/kg dry weight) and consistently low levels of psilocin were found (n.d.-300 mg/kg dry weight).…”

“…), miss-quantification of dose (mushroom weight and number) or exaggerated intake (e.g., Harries and Evans, 1981), and differences in individual tolerance to hallucinogenic mushrooms Bigwood and Beug, 1982). Stamets (1996) has calculated the threshold for intoxication to approximately 40 g psilocybin/kg body weight, which typically would correspond to about 1-2 g of dried mushroom, or approximately 4 to 20 mg psilocybin.…”