Homemade Penicillin To Survive When SHTF

Can you imagine dying from a cut on your finger or a scrape on your knee? How about a respiratory infection or a toothache?

Before the invention of penicillin, the first antibiotic, that could have been your cause of death. If SHTF, access to antibiotics may become limited or impossible. If that happens, it’s important to know how to make antibiotics at home.

To understand the importance of antibiotics, think of it in larger terms. They would have cured the bubonic plague, which was a bacterial infection that took 100 million lives in the 14th century. It was originally caused by infected rats and the fleas that had bitten them, and then bitten a person. Since it was highly contagious, after a person was infected by the rat or flea, the infection then spread from them to other people.

This is the Best Natural Painkiller, and Grows in Your Backyard!

Antibiotics also cure tuberculosis, a highly contagious bacterial disease that still exists today. As a matter of fact, in 2014 alone, more than 9 million people were reported to have it. All bacterial infections are contagious to some degree, though for some, such as ones that cause an infected tooth or cut, the risk of infection is low because it’s mostly blood born. With other infections, such as tuberculosis, all you have to do is breathe the same air to become infected.

Though we think of the plague as something long behind us, we’re only protected from it because of access to antibiotics. If society collapses, pandemics like it could wreak the same havoc on humanity as they did then.

For thousands of years, Chinese medicine has used fungi to treat skin infections. World-wide, a common treatment for any skin lesion was a poultice made of dirt, which likely contained fungi. For thousands of years, people may not have known WHY something worked; they just knew that it did. Fortunately, we don’t have to depend on such blind faith anymore, so let’s get on with it.

Making penicillin at home is difficult, but possible if you have the right equipment and ingredients. First things first, though: don’t do it unless it’s truly a survival situation.

First, commercial antibiotics have been made by the pros, and they’re a known quantity. Second, making drugs at home, whether they’re legal or illegal, is frowned upon, and distributing them is illegal in most places.

Survivopedia - DIY Penicillin

How to Make Penicillin

This is a no-brainer, right? It’s made from bread mold, so you just leave a loaf out, cook up the mold or something, then take it, yes? Umm, no. Penicillin is made from the penicillium fungus found on foods such as some breads and fruits (a moldy cantaloupe played a huge role in initial experiments), but here’s the thing – the bacteria has to be stressed.

So, you have to grow the fungus, then introduce it to stressors before you can use it to make penicillin.

Very important heads up your culture has to be grown and cultivated in a sterile environment or else other bugs and nasties will contaminate it and cause a Frankin-culture instead of the pure penicillium culture that you need to make antibiotics.

There’s a simple but less reliable way of making penicillin, and then there are steps that you can take to ensure that your end result is penicillin. Warning: though: it’s complicated and requires chemicals that can be quite expensive and have limited shelf lives.

Equipment needed:

  • A gram scale
  • Separatory funnel
  • A 1-liter glass container
  • 750 ml Erlenmeyer flask with a non-absorbent plug
  • A pH test kit
  • 2 pieces of whole wheat bread
  • A cantaloupe rind, more bread, or citrus fruit

Step 1 – Set out the rind, bread or fruit and let it mold (we’ll call this the host). It will go through a few phases. First the mold will be white or gray, then it will turn blue, then a bright blue-green. This is the color you want. Note: if you choose to use bread, it’s best to make it yourself because many bakeries use an ingredient that inhibits mold growth.

Step 2 – Sterilize the flask by putting it in the pressure cooker at 15 lb. for at least 15 minutes, or bake it at 315 degrees F for an hour.

Step 3 – Cut the whole wheat bread (see note in step 1) into 1/2-inch cubes and place them in the flask, careful to be as sterile as you can.

Step 4 – scrape the blue-green mold from the host and place it in with the bread. Again, be as sterile with this step as you can, for instance, boil the tongs that you’re using.

Step 5 – Place the flask in a dark place that’s around 70 degrees and allow it to incubate for 5 days.

At this point, some people may say that you’re done and you can just slap the “penicillin” on the wound or make tea or soup from the bread. We don’t recommend it.

Step 6 – Now it’s going to get complicated. You’re going to need the following ingredients:

  • Lactose Monohydrate 44 gm
  • Corn Starch 25 gm
  • Sodium Nitrate 3 gm
  • Magnesium Sulfate 0.25 gm
  • Potassium Monophosphate 0.50 gm
  • Glucose Monohydrate 2.75 gm
  • Zinc Sulfate 0.044 gm
  • Manganese Sulfate 0.044 gm

Now, according to the instructions that I found (neither of which were actual medical sites because, as usual, there aren’t any actual medical sites that describe how to make anything like this at home), it says to dissolve these in tap water.

After researching, it seems that distilled water would be the best to use for the next step because we want to keep things as sterile as possible and tap water has unknown variables. That’s just my opinion and I’m definitely not a formally trained scientist, so use what you prefer.

Step 7 – So, back to it. Sterilize the 1+ liter container, then dissolve the above ingredients in 500 ml of cold water. Add more cold water to make it a full liter.

Step 8 – Use hydrochloric acid (HCL) to adjust the pH to 5.0-5.5 using your pH test kit.

Step 9 – Sterilize the container along with the solution as described above.

Step 10 – Allow the solution to cool, then add the mold. Incubate it for another 7 days under the same conditions as before. It’s important that the fluid isn’t jostled around so put it where it won’t be moved.

If you’ve done it correctly, you’re almost done. Now it’s time to extract the penicillin that’s infused in the fluid.

Step 11 – Filter the mix through a coffee filter or sterilized cheesecloth.

Step 12 – Adjust the pH of the solution to 2.2 using the HCL and the pH test kit.

Step 13 – Mix with cold ethyl acetate in the separatory funnel and shake vigorously for 30 seconds or so then allow it to separate. The ethyl acetate will be at the bottom.

Step 14 – Chill a beaker in an ice bath and drain the ethyl acetate into it. Add 1 percent potassium acetate and mix it again.

Step 15 – Let the ethyl acetate evaporate off while the solution is still in the beaker. You want plenty of air circulating through.

Step 16 – You have penicillin, assuming you did everything right. Actually the crystals that remain are potassium penicillin and potassium acetate.

Survivopedia - How garlic replaces penicillin

This is a pretty scientific process and not something that you should undertake lightly, just to save yourself a few bucks on a prescription.

Because there are so many variables, making your own penicillin is tricky at best. Yes, you may have penicillin but you may have some bad bugs in there, too. But if SHTF, you’re dying from septicemia and you have no other viable options, then it’s not like this is going to make anything worse.

There are also many other sources of natural antibiotics that you can eat or even use topically, including honey, garlic, oil of oregano, and ginger. Honey is also a great preventive because in addition to killing something that may have gotten into the wound, it also acts as a barrier to keep other bugs out.

If you opt to use this recipe, it may be best to test it on a patch of your skin first to see if you have a reaction then go from there.

Try other natural recipes to treat you illnesses , as nature will always provide the best medicine one can have!

Written by

Theresa Crouse is a full-time writer currently living in central Florida. She was born and raised in the hills of West Virginia, where she learned to farm, hunt, fish, and live off the land from an early age. She prefers to live off the grid as much as possible and does her best to follow the “leave nothing behind but footprints” philosophy. For fun, she enjoys shooting, kayaking, tinkering on her car and motorcycle, and just about anything else that involves water, going fast, or the outdoors.

Latest comments
  • One of you guys said.”You can’t go to your doctor and say I need a few months supply of Insulin, Antibiotics etc…Well here are some places you can buy any of this without prescriptions!!! Bestliferx was the cheapest, and I bought a lot from them!! Their prices more than 1/3 less than it is here…Please let your people know they can get as many prescriptions as they need for when the SHTF!!! Might save many lives!!

    Not too sure about this one…Canadian It seemed to be ready for checkout without prescripton Try it..Higher prices! http://www.medpharmacy24.com/cart/index

    I have dealt in the past with http://www.bestliferx.com Fpr a long time I bought pain pills, Lipitor, Thyroxin, antibiotics etc..No Prescriuption Needed!! Give em a try!! I tried this on google, and they showed a different address…Pharmacy something??

    • I just did a check for http://www.bestliferx.com and it stated that they were closed. Just a little heads-up for anyone who wants to check with them.

      • I have two types of antibiotics in storage..fish antibiotics from Thomas Labs. I believe this will be impossible after Dec. 2016, so order now.

        I used a set of fish antibiotics when a tooth gave me problems and had to be pulled.

        • Hey JJ. Have you ever heard of the “Chinese medicine tooth chart?” Its pretty cool. It explains that every tooth is connected to a different organ in the body! When you know what organ its connected to, you can work on it individually until the tooth heals. It works for me to pin point my “root cause” and fix it.

          • I used to buy all my meds from Bestliferx in India. No prescriptions needed but can buy Zithromax, amoxicillian and many other prescriptions…No opioids or controlled drugs! They have sol out to another company, but I haven’t dealt with them for over 5 years. still can order what you want!!!

  • No, I am a microbiologist and its not that simple or safe to try this! Not all strains of penecillin are good to use. Better to use garlic, echinacea, raw apple cider vinegar……or ask a herbalist!

    • Please tell me how you are going to sterilize your solution (Lactose broth) and container for that last preparation. Without steam and pressure it will not be sterile.

    • Dont you mean penicillium?

  • This procedure seems awfully complicated. I am storing up lots of RAW honey.

    • It does seem a bit complicated and as far as I’m concerned too many things can go wrong. I’ve also got lots of raw honey on hand and I actually like garlic and know of its health benefits.

  • Before penicillin there was silver and colloidal silver. I make my own and can assure you that it works for me.

    Ray

    • I’ve heard colloidal silver can be dangerous too …

      • Dying of septicemia or some other realllly nasty infection seems to me to be a lot more dangerous. Just sayin’.

      • If you were told that using colloidal silver would make you turn blue, then you have been HAD!!!! You can make it at home yourself quite easily and for little to no cost. It DOES work for various conditions but, just like prescription meds, it may not work for everything. Each brew and each person is different. You do not need to be concerned about how often you take/use it and depending on the strength you make, you may use more often or not. This was a very common remedy during the Revolutionary War and no doubt other wars and/or home projects, so it is proven through years of use. If you or a friend make this for yourselves, then you can count on all kinds of horror stories because the pharmaceutical companies don’t make all that money they do off of you when you buy their drugs.

    • Silver lungs is my way of taking col silver . Check iit out at “silverlung.com”.

    • I’m making & using CS too. That will be my drug of choice later. Haven’t been sick since I started 1 1/2 yrs ago.
      The dangerous hype is FDA, They have taken to pushing alternate out of business.

  • I appreciate this information about how to make penicillin, however, I find it much easier to use colloidal silver. It works great for killing many different microbes like bacterial, viral, and fungal, plus others. It is much easier to make and cheaper.

  • Yes, because;

    Lactose Monohydrate 44 gm
    Corn Starch 25 gm
    Sodium Nitrate 3 gm
    Magnesium Sulfate 0.25 gm
    Potassium Monophosphate 0.50 gm
    Glucose Monohydrate 2.75 gm
    Zinc Sulfate 0.044 gm
    Manganese Sulfate 0.044 gm

    Will all be readily available when SHTF!!
    let’s keep these articles sensible please . . .

    • i wouldnt even know where to get these now.

      The best option is USNEA, aka old man’s beard. It’s a lichen that grows on oaks and fruit trees. It’s everywhere. Once you train your eyes to see it, every oak tree has some, most have a lot. Natural antibiotic. Best for topical use for skin infections. But a lot of lethal infections start with superficial skin infections. I’m making salves now so they’ll be available when needed.

  • So I need to now how to acquire/make those chemicals?

    • No there are simpler ways to make a decent penicilin that is better than nothing. Look up on wikipedia how it was first discovered/made. Also keep in mind that even the egyptions were eating slightly molding bread when sick at times. Penicilian is super cheaper to buy even without insurance. The situation concerning basic antibiotics is an example of an information blackout. Lots of half truths floating around it would seem..

  • This was fascinating! I’ve never made penicillin, and it seems daunting to try, but I am a medical doctor, so I like the thought that it could be done, if necessary.
    One thought I had is about Roquefort cheese. The mold in Roquefort is specifically penicillin, or so I’ve heard. In fact, when you look at the ingredients, one of them is penicillium. I was thinking that this might be a way of making it more likely you were getting the right kind of mold.

  • This is a terrible idea. I’m a trained microbilogist. Hardly any bacteriall pathogens are susceptible to penicillin anymore. And the wild type penicillin molds produce very little actual penicillin. You’d be better off with other treatments

    • That’s actually a very good point, Swirl. Every other day we hear about yet another “superbug” in a hospital somewhere. The more we use antibiotics the stronger we make the bugs. They adapt and mutate. Is that what some future anthropologist is going to find. That we were killed off by our own antibiotics? I’ll stick to the garlic. I don’t want to blow myself up trying to make homemade penicillin.

  • The problem that I see here is that in an absolute Apocalypse or catastrophic event, like a Nuclear war with one of our enemies, we would more than likely be unable to get ahold of many of the items listed to manufacture Penicillin. However, the availability of certain fish antibiotic will be more available. if anyone is overly concerned and has the gift of foresight so as to know when an apocalyptic event will occur, they may wish to stock up on bulk quantities of these different antibiotics so that they will be ready for that event. It would also be advisable to stock up on as much raw garlic as possible. also, Onion’s have many uses and are good for lowering Blood pressure and drawing some toxins out of our bodies.

    Some people have their survival plans all set to go. they have large underground bunkers and guns and ammo, food, energy, supplies to last a year or two or five. They have a depository of every kind of seed in the world somewhere in some northern country like Iceland, Canada or someplace? Now wouldtn’t that be great. knowing that someone has saved seeds that will grow in harsh environments, but not knowing where that place is?

    If anyone watches the Walking Dead, you can get some good ideas on how to survive from that show. Really.

    • This whole subject is a minefield of information and counter information.
      I’ve heard of using amoxicillin ment for fish for chest infection but even that, No one seems to agree on dosage levels.
      Any directional tips greatly received.

      I’ve seen the raw tee form of penicillin made and drank.
      From watching that ,the hardest thing was to actually swollow the stuff and keep if down !!
      Literally tastes so disgusting that your body almost convulses to get rid of it.

  • Making penicillin this way is NONSENSE because it lasts forever and When you really need it you dont have so much time! Colloidal silver work better with no harm to your body… This cant be said about penicillin… But if you for some reason want to have penicillin, than you can buy penicillin culture for making cheese… This culture grows in milk (it eats lactose so there’s no NEed of fresh milk…) But you never know how much to CONSUME to HELp YOU…. Penicillin used to be MIRacle thing till people found out it hurts them more than it helps… There are so many other WAYs how to save your life from INFECTIONS… 😉

  • Well… syphilis is. 100%

  • To the person that makes their own colloidal silver – can you explain how ?

  • when things go downhill you very likely will not be able to use elaborate processes, which are difficult even when no under stress – you may die from infection, before being successful making penicillin, which is even questionable in its effectiveness.  
    I am using for decades what complies with  KISS principle. Start with iodine – most likely lugol solution – everybody knows it. It kill all pathogens – does not “discriminate” between bacteria, viruses or molds. That takes care of the surface of the body. Now ad DMSO = dimethylsulfoxide, which is available online for maybe around $30 per liter, which will go a long way. There is information about it online and it is being suppressed by mainstream because its effectiveness as well as lot of other cheap effective remedies, including iodine. 
    In short DMSO is antiinflamatory (kind of distant relative to MSM = methylsulfonylmethane), painkiller and it will transport thru skin almost everything you mix in it. It even penetrates the bone, which I have found to be true (jaw abscesses treatment). There is no information online on mixture of DMSO with iodine. Have found, that it effectively eliminates any infection up to maybe half inch deep inside the body, which includes tooth abscesses (dos not get inside infected tooth, so it is not permanent remedy), infection of middle ear, both repeatedly.  Deeper inside the body it loses its effectiveness due to being too diluted. 
    It kills infections as fast as in few hours and longest around one day. Ideal ratio – does not burn inside mouth is about 5ml of iodine in 30 ml dropper bottle (one dropper is about 1 ml), which is than filled to 2/3 – 3/4 with DMSO and rest with water and it is ready to use for literally everything. Myself use about 3ml of mixture every day as a mouthwash – swish around for maybe 10 min and swallow – supply body with iodine – everybody is deficient – and sulphur. 
    Actually my gums grew back (am 67 years old) – had dentine visible on lots of teeth – none is visible anymore. Disinfect my teeth this way, because I have lots of root-canals, which could be eventually reason for dying from infection caused by dead teeth. I would not go anywhere without it a so several other people, who tried its effectiveness – very low cost remedy for probably 90% of infections.  
    Richard

  • Raw honey does not kill bacteria and fungus. Honey keeps them from growing. This is the reason that raw honey should not be given to infants. Live pathogens are in it.

  • I can’t take penicillin due to being allergic to it. Any other suggestions on an antibiotic that can be grown/made at home?

  • Suggest essential oils for antimicrobials – bacteria, fungi, and viruses. Very extensive research on them, just not in this country. Too cheap and effective, maybe, and Big Pharma can’t patent for profit… Could someone write an article about them? Please?

  • I appreciate the information, I’m from Mexico
    the salt bread, in mexico known as bolillo and / or telera, after 6 days the fungus forms,
    so I eat it, 1 or 2 loaves a day, to date there are no complications.
    greetings and again thanks for the information

  • What can you do if you have a penicillin allergy? Which I do. What can I use instead? If nothing this means I die either way.

    • I’d suggest that you do some research on what was used prior to the discovery of penicillin. I’ve been using silver (colloidal silver) as a preventative during cold and flu season for at least 10 years and it’s been mostly successful, as in, no colds or flu. Silver is also effective as a topical for infections. There are also some herbals that fight bacteria.

  • Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, has a video on how to make colloidal silver at home using 3 9V batteries and two Silver Eagle coins. The only problem I saw with the video is that you do NOT want the alligator clips in the water when you are making the silver solution. There’s no telling what impurities you are adding to your solution. Also, you can find the dissolved solids meter online for just a few bucks. I start with store bought distilled water and then run it through a ‘Zero Water’ filter to remove anything left behind from sloppy manufacturing processes. (I’ve found Walmart distilled water with up to 17ppm of dissolved solids in it.) The ‘Zero Water’ filter comes with a dissolved solids meter.

    Also, do NOT add baking soda to your solution if you want to know how much silver you have in solution. The process starts very slowly with pure distilled water, but it will work without the baking soda. After the first batch you can seed your distilled water with some of the colloidal silver or silver ‘dust bunnies’ from the previous batch.

    I’m an engineer, not trained in the health field. What I do should not be taken as medical or health advice. You make your own choices.

  • How come nobody mentioned jewish penicillin? Its not mouldy, its not toxic in any way, butt, it definitely cures what ails a person simply due to nutrition. My mom got her recipe from a German Jewish neighbor who also taught my mom how to make bagels at home, plus an awesome cheesecake.. My mom took the basic jewish recipe for their chicken soup and added lots of extra nutrient laden vegetables,

    My mom’s version of jewish penicillin resembled a stew ‘cuz it got thicker from all the extra’s she added. As kids we had this soup/stew 3-4 times a week in cold weather. When we did catch a cold they didn’t last very long, nor were they severe.

    The common sense approach here is to think how one’s diet supplements the bodys’ ability to regain homeostasis, when it attempts to repair itself. The penicillin version my mom used is a nutritionists dream, it covers the whole gamut of vitamins/minerals, essential fats, carbs, free radical disturbers, if not out right destroyers. Next tip, get a whole hen not a young chicken, then crack every bone to get the marrow to blend in. Use a pressure cooker to ensure all the meat just slides off the bony carcass. Just boiling is not going to make all the ingredients make a single resultant product.

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