I was once mildly interested in the observation that most common fungi, literally a majority of the number of common "fruiting" species, that grow on rotting wood, contain at least trace amounts of psilocybin. Knowing that mushrooms are incredible toxin factories is somewhat of a deterrant, for sure. But not too many of these incredibly lethal fungus compounds are actually alkaloids, so few would make it through the highly selective filtering process we fondly know as an acid-base extraction. A plan to exploit this selectivity must call for careful background research, to mark and eliminate those few species which contain those few compounds which are in fact dangerous alkaloid toxins; alternatively, to introduce complications into the extraction process aimed at eliminating those known alkaloid toxins, by doing things which would separate them from psilocybin. Then you have a wholesale gleaning of the bountiful treasures of the wildwoods, lah dee dah.
This may not bee an idle fantasy: the thought of column chromatography gives reflexive shudders to most beez, but with the aid of a black light it's really easy to pull off just the fractions which glow in the dark, and you come out with pure psilocybin and psilocin fractions. And alkaloid extraction on a mass scale doesn't intimidate me, nor should it intimidate others with a lot of practice with preparative alkaloid extraction from plant matter. Most beez who have been around the block a few times, have indeed done lots of alkaloid extractions. There are four and twenty ways, and you get a knack for it after a while.
Think about it, if you feel like it. Low yeilding extractions are usually dismissed with a sneer, as not worth while. What makes it not worth while? The unwillingness of the operator, in fact. Just ask folks in Peru or Afghanistan, whether unskilled and chemically naive personnel can be trained to perform successful alkaloid extractions from bulk plant matter. They'll give you a clue. It's not a great step beyond that, to show an extraction worker how to divert only the glowing band of fluid into your product flask. Our romanticized self image, as the lone struggling alchemical genius amidst all the alembics and retorts, may bee getting in the way of many opportunities for cooperative endeavor.
Think of the plentiful natural products which we know contain trips. Desmanthus illinoiensis and phalaris spp. and arundo donax are very widespread on my continent. More on topic, the fungi species in which psilocybin has been detected must be well over a hundred. Bulk extractions which are "not worth while" for the solitary criminal mastermind, in other words the risks of exposure in collection, on top of the sheer amount of labor in the extraction, outweigh the anticipated yield of goodies, might bee appropriately conducted by a circle of friends, with decreased risk to their chemistry tutor.
A meditation for y'all, hear me Randolf_Carter.
Turning science fact into <<science fiction>>
