Grotto Posted February 6, 2001 Warning: the following may be illegal where you live. please honour local laws. A while back I had a large San Pedro which had started to turn brown skinned. This wasn't the famous corking, but just a discolourising of the cactus. My wife complained that "its so ugly" so I cut it down and stuck it in a shelf along a couple of others. I left it there forgoten and when I came across it a year later it was soft but I'm sure it could be planted and grown. But I decided I would ingest it. This was done in a place where such things are legal. I usualy run .45 kilo through a juicer and make a quick tea of the pulp which was more difficult becaue of the softness of the cacti To make a long story short, this San Pedro was at least 20%-30% stronger than it would normaly have been. I think the stress of being cut off and no incoming nutrients caused stress on the cactus making it produce more mescaline in an attempt to protect itself. If I was to want to do this again, I think I would plan ahead and always have some cut far in advance. Peace. Grotto. PS: remember to respect local laws and only do this is places where such things are legal. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
M S Smith Posted February 6, 2001 Grotto, anecdotally it is understood that stressing similar to what has happened with the plant you describe appears to increase the alkaloid concentration. But of course the weight of the plant material also lessens with dehydration and therefore it gives the apperance of more alkaloids though not really being the case. .45 kilo of a plant fully hydrated is a lot different than .45 kilo of a plant dehydrated. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Ramon Posted February 7, 2001 I have seen pictures of big piles of San Pedro being stored prior to sale in South America. This might help to increase potency or it might just be that this is the most practical way for these people to sell San Pedro. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Grotto Posted February 7, 2001 Hi M S Of course you are correct about the loss of weight and how that could cause it to appear stronger. But the weight that I was refering to was the weight of when the stalks were first cut. There was a 15 % loss in weight over the year but the inital quantity was what I would normaly do. And I am standing by my statement that .45 Kilo cut fresh and stored for a year will be much stronger that .45 Kilo fresh cut and ingested. Peace. Grotto PS M S your image Egroup is awesome. I'm enjoying it a lot. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
M S Smith Posted February 7, 2001 Got it Grotto, thanks for clearing that up about the weight. I probably will side with you on this information, anecdotally that is. Someone needs to do a controled test. Glad you like the images group. I just wish more folks would post, but oh well. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Ramon Posted February 8, 2001 A controled experiment is a sterling idea. Have just started growing two pups from the same plant. I plan on adding a supplement to one and not the other to find out if this influences alkaloid production or not. The two plants are genetically identical material which will be treated in the same manner appart from the supplement. Been thinking that I can also use this to test the idea expressed in this thread. By putting half of each Pedro away I can check each again aprox. six months later and see if they have changed in content. Bioassay of course would not be a suitable way off assessing the results. Would it be illegal in Australia to extract the alkaloids not for the purpose of comsumption but for science. ie. would I be able to send the stuff of to a lab. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rkundalini Posted February 9, 2001 K Trout in sacred cacti mentions that he thinks storing a cutting for a few months increases the potency (yes, after taking into account moisture loss)... If it was soft and/or brown I would think there is the chance of it having some kind of fungal and/or bacterial infection which could conceivably have produced psychoactive (and dangerous) and possibly synergistic substances... remember the "mouldy pot" stories... kt wasn't talking about brown stuff though, just healthy stuff that has sat and dried a little... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
azza Posted February 17, 2001 Originally posted by Ramon:A controled experiment is a sterling idea. Have just started growing two pups from the same plant. I plan on adding a supplement to one and not the other to find out if this influences alkaloid production or not. The two plants are genetically identical material which will be treated in the same manner appart from the supplement. i have noticed this elsewhere - the addition of a supplement, and am very interested in how your results turn out. Has anyone else experimented with certain supplements which act as a precursor to certain alkaloids in certain cactus? hypothetically of course, maybe you know a firend of a friend who you may share acquaitanceship with and if so how were your results. I have yet to find the research paper which conducted these experiments. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
