Hi all,

Bit of warm weather recently has got me worried about my dried libs. They’re dried and stored in mason jars with some dessicant in a dark cupboard. Temps are usually cool but have reached 23c today. Is this too warm for them, will they lose potency at this temp? Thinking about moving them to the fridge.
Thanks

I have had good luck grinding them to powder, encapsulating them, and storing the capsules in jars with desiccant in a freezer. I've kept a freezer stash for years this way and they've never let me down.

Hmmm. Interesting. Still feel I preserved my stash the best way I could with non-air conditioned summer heat in the homes I've lived in.

I have kept mine in glass jars with dried Epsom salts on the bottom as a dissicant, I leave them in the fridge and they have remained potent for 2 years this way, I had them out of the fridge for the first year and it didn't seem to make a difference, just figured refrigeration can't hurt

A few weeks ago I stumbled soon a jar I had of dry and powdered Subaeruginosa which I had kept in the freezer since 2015. They were still very strong with not much loss in potency that I could tell. I think I’d they are cracker dry then freezer should be good as it will slow the oxidation process, but if there is any water present this would be bad as it would rupture cell walls. 8 years and still good was beyond my expectations

The best way to store mushrooms is whole, cracker dry, and in the freezer. I say this from personal experience, from scientific literature and also from industry practice

I have stored dried mushrooms for many years with no loss of potency. I usually pre-dry them with a fan immediately after harvesting, for a day or two, and then into a tupperware with calcium chloride on the bottom to absorb moisture, some paper towel and the mushrooms on top. I only put this in the freezer after it's cracker dry.

This study also says that freezing is the best way to store:

https://www.researchgate...layer-chromatography.pdf

Also if you look at reference standard material from sigma aldrich or other chemical suppliers, it always says to store psilocybin in freezing temperatures, so there is no way freezing itself degrades the molecule.



Unfortunately this other study you mention has significant flaws, I would disregard it. The main issue is they didnt store it whole, they first cut the mushrooms lenghtwise while they were fresh, with is a very silly thing to do since it induces enzymatic degradation, as they themselves mention in the publication. Then they powdered before storing, which is another confounding variable.

Thank you for this, endlessness. I think I came across that same study a few years ago and as a result avoided freezing dried mushrooms.

One love

Freezer definitely works well. Although I 100% trust endlessneas in saying it's better to store them whole, the only caveat I would add is if you pick wild mushrooms it's a good safety tip to grind them into a powder. On the very rare chance you pick a toxic lookalike without realising, one wrong mushroom could be disastrous eaten whole but one wrong mushroom spread over a whole big batch (powder used) is unlikely to be.