The Mushroom Psilocybin with Psychedelic Properties

Abstract

Psilocybin, the active chemical in psilocybin mushrooms can also be considered a close chemical relative of DMT, for the psilocybin molecule contains a DMT molecule at the end (4-phosphoryloxy-N,N-dimethyl-tryptamine; Fig. 17). Together with psilocin, another hallucinogenic mushroom alkaloid, it was originally isolated by Albert Hofmann and his assistant Hans Tscherter at Sandoz laboratories from magic mushrooms in 1959, guided by self-administration.

Psilocybin is a psychedelic indole of the tryptamine family, found in psilocybin mushrooms. It is present in hundreds of species of fungi, including those of the genus Psilocybe, such as Psilocybe cubensis and Psilocybe semilanceata, but also reportedly isolated from a dozen or so other genera. Psilocybin mushrooms are commonly called “magic mushrooms” or more simply “shrooms” (Fig. 18).