DETERMINATION OF PSILOCYBIN IN PSILOCYBE SEMILANCEATA BY CAPILLARY ZONE ELECTROPHORESIS

A capillary zone electrophoretic (CZE) method was developed for the ra pid determination of psilocybin in Psilocybe sentilanceata. Following a simple two step extraction with 3.0+2.0 ml methanol, the hallucinoge nic compound was effectively separated from matrix components by CZE u tilizing a 10 mM borate-phosphate running buffer adjusted to pH 11.5. The identity of psilocybin was confirmed by migration time information and by UV spectra, while quantitation was accomplished utilizing barb ital as internal standard. The calibration curve for psilocybin was li near within 0.01-1 mg/ml, while intra-day and inter-day variations of quantitative data were 0.5 and 2.5% R.S.D., respectively. In addition to psilocybin, the method was also suitable for the determination of t he structurally related compound baeocystin. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.