INSTRUCTIONS How to test psilocybin (magic mushrooms)?
How to test magic mushrooms?
Analysing mushrooms is confusing. Fungi contain hundreds of chemicals, some of which cause false positive results for psilocybin, the main active psychedelic ingredient. For most reliable results we recommend to use a lab analysis service, but if it’s not available try the following two simple methods:
- Bruising
- Observation
- Reagent testing (to rule out phenethylamines)
The best test for psilocybin (magic mushrooms)
The best simple way to check if mushrooms contain psilocybin is to pinch them when they are not fully dried and see if any blue bruising appears. If mushrooms are already dry you can inspect them of the same blueish bruising marks.
Apart from bruising, other two distinct characteristics of psilocybe mushroom species are:
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They have a veil around their gills when growing
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Purple-brown spores that leave distinct prints
Psilocibe mushrooms bruising
Ehrlich reagent for psilocybin (magic mushrooms)
In terms of positive identification unfortunately contrary to popular belief (and some false advertising) Ehrlich reagent, the most popular test for “shrooms” is NOT specific to psilocybin (or psilocin). Ehrlich reacts with a pink color change to all indoles, such as psilocybin, but also other alkaloids, like tryptophan. This means that non psychoactive mushrooms can produce false positive results with Ehrlich reagent.
White button reacting with Ehrlich
Psilocybin (magic mushrooms) test kit
A better approach is negative identification, which means ruling out presence of specific unwanted synthethic compounds, in this case usually phenethylamines. Most prominent compounds in this class of drugs are psychedelic stimulants belonging to NBOMe and DOx families. Both are known to cause a psychedelic state of mind similar to psilocibin or LSD, however their effects on human body are signifcantly more dangerous and intense, possibly even lethal.
To rule out NBOMe in mushrooms (or to rule out DOC in mushrooms) use at least two of the following reagents: Marquis, Mecke, Liebermann or Froehde, which are available in our LSD test kit or DMT test kit (among others). When using reagent tests to rule out presence of phenethylamines you are looking for an instant and vivid color change. Do not mistake a positive reaction with a false positive – a weak, slow burning of organic matter caused by corrosive nature of reagent tests.
Reagent tests for psilocybin or psilocin to rule out phenethylamines:
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DMT Test Kit
€22,57 -
LSD Test Kit
€22,57
Reagents presumptively indicate PRESENCE, but not QUANTITY. To detect all ingredients and estimate potency it’s required to use an additional purity test kit. A positive or negative test result does not indicate if the substance is safe. No substance is 100% safe.
4 May 2023 @ 19:57
I don’t know why more experienced mycophiles are so tough on newbs. Bruising is not so straightforward depending on the species especially if you’ve never seen it before, some are more blackish and some a greenish blue and others hardly at all. Best thing to do if unsure is find an experienced forager, post thorough pics on an identification site, and lastly get a microscope. I too remember wondering if there was a test when I first started foraging wood lovers. Good luck.
6 December 2022 @ 16:50
I am looking specifically for something that gives the amount of psilocybin in a mushroom.
I can’t imagine being welcomed with open arms if I walked into a lab setting and said “hey guys. Got some mushrooms I need tested for psilocybin content”! Does anyone know where I would even look for a lab that would or could do this?
7 December 2022 @ 11:06
We recommend https://energycontrol-international.org.
25 November 2022 @ 16:01
I suggest you edit or remove this statement because it is demonstrably false:
“The only truly reliable (and simple) way to check if mushrooms contain psilocybin is to pinch them when they are not fully dried and see if any blue bruising appears.”
It may be “simple” but it’s not “truly reliable” since other kinds of mushrooms will also stain blue or bluish green. It’s an indication but not proof all by itself.
29 November 2022 @ 09:58
Thank you for the suggestion, changed it to “most reliable”.
5 September 2022 @ 03:41
Is there anywhere where I can upload a photo of what I have and get some help identifying these mushrooms or the Spore prints I took? I’ve been doing a lot of reading on it and I’m trying I’ve been doing a lot of reading on mushroom spore prints but I cannot tell what freaking color this is. They all look black to me! I might be color blind I don’t know anyway if someone could help me that would be greatly appreciated. PS when I pinch them to me it looks more of a bluish black but I’ve heard I should be looking for purple is that correct? ScroogeMcStuffins@gmail.com
Thank’s
31 March 2022 @ 15:14
I found a sealed bag of dried mushrooms, is there any method of Identifying or testing them in this state?
6 April 2022 @ 08:06
You can inspect them visually for characteristical gills / shape and signs of blueish bruisin from handling when fresh.
11 November 2021 @ 18:28
Ignore step one. This is terrible advice, if found by someone foraging. Do NOT eat a mushroom if your only indicator is that you’ve pinched it and it’s turned blue.
There are many mushrooms you can pinch, and they turn blue. That are non-edible or non-psychadelic.
And many that are even poisonous. This is a myth.
11 November 2021 @ 19:02
It’s no myth, please take a look at the recently published research paper https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1002/ange.201910175. Of course no presumptive analysis method is infallible, but blue bruising (along with two other features, most notably gills and purple-brown spore print) provides strong evidence that a particular mushroom is an active psilocybin mushroom. In any case you should ALWAYS assume a sample of unknown origin can contain an unexpected substance – unless you have access to lab testing.
23 September 2021 @ 16:46
There is now a psilocybin test kit available. I was one of the first customers for them and wrote up a review of it [redacted].
I didn’t compare the results with a proper lab test, so I can’t confirm if the numbers I got were accurate, other than that it didn’t detect any psilocybin in champignons I bought from the supermarket.
6 October 2021 @ 08:15
Thank you for your comment. We are aware that psyloc(yb)in can be extracted and identified, however we can only agree with your own conclusion about that particular product – “As with most tests involving eye balling a colour chart, it was hard to pick where to place it”. Your own result photo does not match the reference chart at all. Unfortunately that test kit is neither reliable nor precise, and at 15 EUR per test we strongly feel it is worse than flipping a coin. We looked into reagent potency tests, but they are dishonest and not up to our standards.
22 June 2022 @ 02:02
Has the situation changed? Are there any good kits?
23 June 2022 @ 10:46
Not any better than looking for blue bruising.
6 July 2022 @ 20:17
If you were discussing a kit from a certain German company, Alan Rockefeller seems to have a somewhat higher opinion of it than you do.
6 July 2022 @ 22:06
We haven’t seen any conclusive result of using that kit.
6 July 2022 @ 20:21
There are psilocybin-containing mushrooms that do not regularly bruise blue (e.g., Ps. semilanceata) — whether from low psilocin content, or because it lacks whatever enzymes are involved in the bluing reaction from psilocin –> blue compounds.