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Hi all! I know I have posted boatloads of questions, but this time I am here to contribute, for a change!

I have been leeching wood ashes to isolate the soap-making compounds as part of a project completely unrelated to mushrooms. But I wanted to share that, after leeching and concentrating by boiling off the water, the resulting fluid contains enough KOH to produce a positive test on some mushrooms that we gathered. I don't know if this interests anyone, but I figured I'd share. 

I processed large amounts (about 10 lb) of hardwood ashes for mine, but for testing mushrooms you could use FAR less. I leached the ashes three times with distilled water for about 24 hours each leeching. I strained the fluid through cheesecloth to remove large particles, and coffee filters to remove the fine particles. Then I combined the fluid from all three leechings and boiled it until it was concentrated. In my case, I had about 4 cups of fluid left (I started with 3 gal, one for each leeching). I dripped the resulting fluid on Suillus americanus and Suillus weaverae species that I found in my yard on a lark, and it had enough KOH to produce results. 

It's worth noting, though, that KOH is not a primary component of the fluid produced, if I am doing my chemistry right. The resulting fluid should be a mix of sodium and potassium salts (lye), with KOH being a minor constituent. However, the mushrooms that I have reacted completely as expected. Also, the resulting fluid has a brown tinge, so for some species, this may cause an issue. It didn't mess with my results, limited though they are, though.

Anyway, this might be boring, or someone might find interest in it. I hope it helps!

 

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