Gordon Wasson first proposed his groundbreaking theory identifying Soma, the hallucinogenic sacrament of the Vedas, as the Amanita muscaria mushroom. In this study, mass spectra of derivatized ibotenic acid and muscimol are shown, and validation of the method is described. By this method, concentrations of ibotenic acid and muscimol in the urine of four persons intoxicated with A. Cycloserine was used as internal standard.
Isolation of these alkaloids from urine was performed on a strong cation exchanger (Dowex® 50W X8), and the elution and derivatization of the alkaloids were made in one step with ethyl chloroformate in aqueous solution of sodium hydroxide with the addition of ethanol and pyridine. The article describes the isolation of ibotenic acid and muscimol from urine, the derivatization step and the determination of these compounds by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Authors of this article introduce an instrumental method of proving A. Mushroom poisoning is often proved by microscopic examination of spores in the stomach or intestinal content.
Prognosis of the poisoning is generally good lethal cases are rare. muscaria is mostly intentional for recreational purposes. pantherina is in the majority of cases accidental because it can be easily mistaken for the edible species (Amanita rubescens, Amanita spissa and Macrolepiota procera). They are rapidly absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract and readily excreted in urine.
Ibotenic acid and muscimol are substances which mostly participate in psychotropic properties of Amanita pantherina and Amanita muscaria. While we identify a different third filter from Wasson, our findings support and further his overarching theory identifying Soma as the Amanita muscaria mushroom. Here, we examine the strengths and weaknesses of Wasson’s argument, and in turn propose an alternate filter, a filter of milk, and detail how mixing aqueous extractions of Amanita muscaria with unpasteurized milk might lead to significant pharmacological changes potentiating the final beverage. Based on the practice of urine-recycling among Amanita muscaria using groups in Siberia, and several vague references to urinating Soma in the Rig Veda, Wasson proposed that the third filter was the human body, and that the urine produced by bemushroomed individuals was considered the purest form of Soma. Wasson’s interpretation of the first two filters, a filter of sunlight (sun-drying or desiccation) and a woolen filter (to remove solids from aqueous preparations), are generally uncontested, but his proposal for the third filter has raised controversy and ire. Central to Wasson’s theory are the three filters of Soma, which correspond to different steps in the preparation of Soma, as outlined in the Rig Veda.
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