Amanita Research Forum

Re-examining the Role of Muscarine in the Chemistry of Amanita muscaria

The chemistry of the Amanita muscaria mushroom has long been a puzzle for scientists, and many pieces of this puzzle remain in dispute. One recurrent dispute centers on the role of muscarine in Amanita muscaria inebriations and poisonings. Currently, it is widely (and mistakenly) believed that muscarine does not occur in Amanita muscaria in pharmacologically active levels. While muscarine is unable to cross the blood-brain barrier, and contributes no psychoactive effects to Amanita muscaria inebriation, the evidence presented herein suggests that muscarine is present in sufficient quantities to have a physiological effect when moderate amounts of this mushroom are consumed. Failing to recognize the physiological contribution of muscarine to the Amanita muscaria experience leaves us with an incomplete picture of the properties of this mushroom and how it was perceived by the cultures who revered it.

Link: https://www.researchgate.net/publicatio ... a_muscaria

There is a revised and updated version of this paper in the new book "Fly Agaric: A Compendium of History, Pharmacology, Mythology, and Exploration," which can be found through various online retailers such as Amazon:

Kevin Feeney wrote:These concentrations [of muscarine in A. muscaria] are considerably higher than those generally cited in the literature; and with concentrations of muscarine reported as high as 0.011%, place Amanita muscaria on par with the muscarine content of some species of Inocybe (Catalfomo & Eugster 1970), a genus generally considered to be poisonous due to high concentrations of muscarine.

This is all we get to establish muscarine content as significant: the highest ever reported level, matches "some species" of a genus that, as a whole, is considered poisonous. The species of Inocybe actually known for muscarine toxicity are however orders of magnitude more potent than that, and some species are edible, so this doesn't really serve us very well. I don't doubt that it's difficult to come up with a pharmaceutical standard for muscarine dosage, but it would have really helped here, since it is after all the basic point of this article.

Fly Agaric Press wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 27, 2020 4:38 am

There is a revised and updated version of this paper in the new book "Fly Agaric: A Compendium of History, Pharmacology, Mythology, and Exploration," which can be found through various online retailers such as Amazon:

Hey FAP, We have a references section to this forum, papers, books, etc....make sure to post this there so people can find it. Start on the main page and look down the list, you'll see it.