Anna Poliwoda
Opole University, Poland
Title: The methods for the determination of bioactive alkaloids of hallucinogenic mushrooms
Biography
Biography: Anna Poliwoda
Abstract
One of the sources of naturally occurring bioactive alkaloids with hallucinogenic properties are mushrooms of the genius such as Amanita, Psylocybe and Pholiotyna. These mushrooms produce substances (the structural analogues of tryptamine (indole) or isoxazoles derivatives) that caused the user to have a heightened state of awareness of sensory input (audio, visual, etc.). Nowadays, they are generally illegal to use in many countries, but their recreational use, especially by young people, has become an increasing problem in Europe. The twentieth-century technological achievements (such as internet) make it incredibly easy to purchase hallucinogenic mushrooms without any limitations. The main danger of fungal hallucinogens is not their toxicity, but their unpredictability actions. Therefore, their occurring and concentration level in various types of samples (e.g. mushrooms, biological fluids) must be monitored. In this presentation, the chromatographic and electrophoretic methodologies used in recent years in the analysis of fungal hallucinogenic alkaloids such as psilocybin, psilocin, ibotenic acid and muscimol in various complex sample matrices (i.e. body fluids, hallucinogenic mushrooms, etc.) will be described. The review will focused on comparison of applied analytical methods, taking into account both selectivity and efficiency of separation procedures, the used detection mode, method automation, requirements of application of sample clean-up step or derivatization. Additionally, the methods considering the analysis of fungal hallucinogens that have been developed in our laboratory will be presented too.