Analysis of hallucinogenic constituents in Amanita mushrooms circulated in Japan.
Kenji Tsujikawa, Hiroyuki Mohri, Kenji Kuwayama, Hajime Miyaguchi, Yuko Iwata, Akinaga Gohda, Sunao Fukushima, Hiroyuki Inoue, Tohru Kishi
Forensic science international December 20, 2006 DOI: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2006.01.004 via PubMed
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractChemical analysis of seven Amanita mushrooms sold in Japan (five Amanita muscaria and two Amanita pantherina) and four products labeled as extracts of A. muscaria found that the mushrooms contained the dissociative compounds ibotenic acid and muscimol at varying levels, with caps having higher concentrations than stems and flesh more than cuticle. In contrast, the extract products contained little to none of these compounds but instead held other psychoactive substances, including tryptamines, monoamine oxidase inhibitors, and tropane alkaloids, indicating adulteration.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Chemical analysis Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 11 |
| Population | Amanita muscaria and Amanita pantherina mushrooms and extract products sold in Japan |
| Keywords | Mushroom chemistry Psychoactive substances Product adulteration Amanita mushrooms |
| Citations | 51 |
| Key finding | Mushrooms sold as Amanita muscaria or Amanita pantherina contained ibotenic acid and muscimol, while extract products contained little of these but other psychoactive compounds instead. |
Abstract
The constituents of seven mushrooms sold as Amanita muscaria or Amanita pantherina (five A. muscaria and two A. pantherina) and four "extracts purported to contain A. muscaria" products that are currently circulated in Japan were determined. All mushroom samples were identified as A. muscaria or A. pantherina by macroscopic and microscopic observation. The dissociative constituents, ibotenic acid (IBO) and muscimol (MUS), were extracted with 70% methanol twice and determined by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. The IBO (as the hydrate)/MUS contents were in the range of <10-2845ppm/46-1052ppm in the cap of A. muscaria and 188-269ppm/1554-1880ppm in the cap of A. pantherina. In the caps, these compounds had a tendency to be more concentrated in the flesh than in the cuticle. On the other hand, the IBO/MUS contents in the stem were far lower than in the caps. In the "extracts purported to contain A. muscaria" products, IBO/MUS were detected below the lower limit of calibration curve (<10ppm/<25ppm) or not detected. However, these samples contained other psychoactive compounds, such as psychoactive tryptamines (5-methoxy-N,N-diisopropyltryptamine and 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine), reversible monoamine oxidase inhibitors (harmine and harmaline) and tropane alkaloids (atropine and scopolamine), which were not quantified. This is the first report of the chemical analysis of Amanita mushrooms that are circulated in the drug market.