Extraction of psychoactive compounds from psilocybin fungus
This invention relates to the extraction of psychoactive compounds from organisms for use in medicine. Extraction is carried out with a strong acid or strong base to either promote or inhibit dephosphorylation. The extract in the slurry form is standardized with added excipient so that when it is dried the powdered composition has a specified total psychoactive alkaloid concentration, with a known ratio of phosphorylated to dephosphorylated psychoactive alkaloids.
1. A process for forming an extract with a specified concentration of between 0.1% and 10% of psychoactive alkaloids from a dried, raw, psilocybin fungus, comprising the steps of:
soaking a biomass of the dried, raw psilocybin fungus in a solvent that is a water-ethanol mixture in order to dissolve the psychoactive alkaloids in the solvent;
filtering an undissolved portion of the biomass from the solvent;
evaporating a portion of the solvent to form a concentrated slurry;
measuring a psychoactive alkaloid content in the concentrated slurry;
measuring a dry mass content in the concentrated slurry;
using the psychoactive alkaloid content, the dry mass content, and the specified concentration of between 0.1% and 10% to determine a quantity of a carrier to add to the concentrated slurry in order to obtain the specified concentration of the psychoactive alkaloids in the extract;
standardizing the concentrated slurry by adding thereto the quantity of the carrier to result in a standardized concentrated slurry; and
drying the standardized concentrated slurry to result in the extract with the specified concentration of between 0.1% and 10% of the psychoactive alkaloids.
2. The process of claim 1 , wherein the extract is a powdered extract.
3. The process of claim 1 , wherein the solvent is a water-ethanol alkaline buffered solution.
4. The process of claim 3 , wherein the solvent has a pH of 11-12.
5. The process of claim 3 , wherein the solvent is buffered with sodium hydroxide, the process comprising, between the filtering and evaporating steps, adjusting the solvent to a pH of 4-9 using phosphoric acid.
6. The process of claim 1 , wherein the solvent is a water-ethanol acid buffered solution.
7. The process of claim 6 , wherein the solvent has a pH of 1.8-3.
8. The process of claim 6 , wherein the solvent is buffered with citric acid, the process comprising, between the filtering and evaporating steps, adjusting the solvent to a pH of 4-9 using sodium hydroxide.
9. The process of claim 1 , wherein the soaking step is at temperature of 5-95° C.
10. The process of claim 1 , comprising applying a pressure of 50 kPa 100 MPa to the solvent during the soaking step.
11. The process of claim 1 , comprising agitating the solvent during the soaking step, wherein the soaking step has a duration of 10 minutes to 12 hours.
12. The process of claim 1 , wherein the psilocybin fungus is Psilocybe cubensis, Psilocybe cyanescens , or both Psilocybe cubensis and Psilocybe cyanescens.
13. The process of claim 1 , wherein the psychoactive alkaloids comprise psilocybin, psilocin, baeocystin, norbaeocystin, or any mixture thereof.
14. The process of claim 1 , wherein the solvent to biomass ratio is in a range from 1 L:1 kg to 50 L:1 kg.
15. The process of claim 1 , wherein the specified concentration is specified as a percentage with a precision of two decimal places.
16. The process of claim 1 , wherein the carrier comprises ascorbic acid, silicon dioxide, maltodextrin, gum arabic, microcrystalline cellulose, sodium citrate, sodium benzoate, sodium phosphate, rice, rice hulls, or any combination selected therefrom.
17. The process of claim 1 comprising:
repeating, using further solvent, the soaking and filtering steps for the undissolved portion of the biomass; and
combining the solvent, after filtering the solvent, with the further solvent, after filtering the further solvent.
18. The process of claim 1 , comprising forming the water-ethanol mixture by mixing 3 parts of ethanol to 1 part of water by weight.