Magic mushrooms given away by a glow

New Scientist

The “magic” components of hallucinogenic mushrooms can be made to glow in the dark by a new detection test developed by Australian scientists.

It detects psilocybin or psilocin – the psychoactive components of magic mushrooms. It is between two and three orders of magnitude more sensitive than the standard UV detection method currently used, its creators say.

Nicole Anastos at Deakin University in Geelong, Australia, studied Psilocybe subaeruginosa, a species of magic mushroom commonly found in Australia and New Zealand.

Anastos soaked mushroom samples in methanol to extract the alkaloid (nitrogen-containing) components. Next she used chromatography to separate out these various components, and added potassium permanganate and ruthenium. If a mushroom contains the hallucinogenic components – psilocybin and psilocin – they will react with these two compounds to release light.

Urine sample

Magic mushrooms contain relatively high levels of psilocybin, and some also contain trace levels of psilocin – which is responsible for the hallucinogenic effects in people. After being eaten, psilocybin is metabolised into psilocin.

But, after psilocybin is broken down in the body, the resulting psilocin degrades rapidly, says Anastos. “The levels found in urine are so low you need a sensitive method to detect it,” she says.

Because the new test is so sensitive, it should be able to pick up levels of psilocin in urine that would slip beneath the radar of conventional tests.

The new test can pick up levels of psilocin as low as 1.2 x 10^-8 moles per litre, compared with 4 x 10^-6 for UV detection.

Journal reference: Journal of Forensic Science (vol 51, p 45)

By Emma Young