DetachedDreamer97
Enlightened
- Mar 17, 2018
- 1,402
Hi, I've been busy. I was working on the perfected yew tincture, and after so many failures, I managed to figure it out and suceed. By perfected, I mean, to make a concentrated extract at less volume. Fairly easy, and unlike I anticipated, ethyl acetate is likely not needed. Pretty much what you'll need are a few of 1-liter mason jars, some filter, dropper bottle, powder (starch, calcium carbonate, flour, etc.), 1/2 - 1litre of pure rubbing alcohol, some drinking alcohol, non polar petroleum solvent, wide glass container, maybe nitrile gloves for NPS solvent, sodium carbonate (washing soda), distilled water.
1: Clean the leaves
2: Dry them in an oven at a temperature of up to 85 Celsius (185,°F) and grind down to a powder both to reduce volume and increase surface area.
3: Place the grounded herb in a mason jar and cover completely with a low-boiling petroleum solvent (100% VM&P Naphtha,Heptane, Hexane, etc.). And cap the jar, perhaps with aluminium foil underneath to prevent leakage. The solvent should be four times the volume of the herb as with all the aforementioned solvents you'll be using.
4: Leave the mixture for a day in a cold, dark place for 24 hours, shaking often at a duration of a few minutes.) Percolate and discard the extract. Liquid only contains mostly oils, waxes, ephedrine (perhaps), and other compounds that'll impede the taxine and make you sick. The solvent itself is also toxic.
5: Repeat steps 3 and 4 at least once. And take the herb and set it on a flat tray or something.
6: Let it dry.
7: Once dried, put the herb in another mason jar and mix in some washing soda (sodium carbonate) at equal mass.
8: Prepare some boiling water and cover. Immediately, you'll notice rust-colored foam coming out of the liquid. That would be the reaction of tannins turning into salts, which makes them very water-soluble. This also turns alkaloids into freebases, ideally taxine. And since freebase ephedrine is soluble in water, and not taxine, you'll have essentially pure taxine. Let it sit for at least 45 minutes agitating occasionally in a hot water bath.
9: Percolate and discard the extract like you did with the nonpolar solvent and let the herb dry.
10: Extract with anhydrous rubbing alcohol for a day or so.
11: Percolate into a wide glass container and toss the herb; you won't need it anymore.
12: Evaporate the rubbing alcohol. Should end up becoming a sludge.
13: Scrape it into a pile and mix in some rice flour, calcium carbonate or whatever powdered filler until it at least has a dough-like consistency or is easy to work with.
(Note: You may stop there if you wish to, but it will result in a shorter shelf life, it would be wise to convert it into salts if you'd rather prolong it. If not, carry on to the next step.)
13.5 (Optional): If you have enough of the nonpolar solvent leftover, like enough to cover the concentrate, defat, discard the solvent and evaporate.
14: Place the concentrate into a small jar (3-5 oz) and cover it with some high-proof ethanol (at at least 3 times the volume to extract the alkaloids. Wait at least a few days to a week before straining.
15: Pour the alcoholic extract into a small glass dropper bottle, perhaps adding a bit of citric acid to turn the alkaloids into salts.
16: Store it in a cool/dry, place away from light, until you're ready to use it.
1: Clean the leaves
2: Dry them in an oven at a temperature of up to 85 Celsius (185,°F) and grind down to a powder both to reduce volume and increase surface area.
3: Place the grounded herb in a mason jar and cover completely with a low-boiling petroleum solvent (100% VM&P Naphtha,Heptane, Hexane, etc.). And cap the jar, perhaps with aluminium foil underneath to prevent leakage. The solvent should be four times the volume of the herb as with all the aforementioned solvents you'll be using.
4: Leave the mixture for a day in a cold, dark place for 24 hours, shaking often at a duration of a few minutes.) Percolate and discard the extract. Liquid only contains mostly oils, waxes, ephedrine (perhaps), and other compounds that'll impede the taxine and make you sick. The solvent itself is also toxic.
5: Repeat steps 3 and 4 at least once. And take the herb and set it on a flat tray or something.
6: Let it dry.
7: Once dried, put the herb in another mason jar and mix in some washing soda (sodium carbonate) at equal mass.
8: Prepare some boiling water and cover. Immediately, you'll notice rust-colored foam coming out of the liquid. That would be the reaction of tannins turning into salts, which makes them very water-soluble. This also turns alkaloids into freebases, ideally taxine. And since freebase ephedrine is soluble in water, and not taxine, you'll have essentially pure taxine. Let it sit for at least 45 minutes agitating occasionally in a hot water bath.
9: Percolate and discard the extract like you did with the nonpolar solvent and let the herb dry.
10: Extract with anhydrous rubbing alcohol for a day or so.
11: Percolate into a wide glass container and toss the herb; you won't need it anymore.
12: Evaporate the rubbing alcohol. Should end up becoming a sludge.
13: Scrape it into a pile and mix in some rice flour, calcium carbonate or whatever powdered filler until it at least has a dough-like consistency or is easy to work with.
(Note: You may stop there if you wish to, but it will result in a shorter shelf life, it would be wise to convert it into salts if you'd rather prolong it. If not, carry on to the next step.)
13.5 (Optional): If you have enough of the nonpolar solvent leftover, like enough to cover the concentrate, defat, discard the solvent and evaporate.
14: Place the concentrate into a small jar (3-5 oz) and cover it with some high-proof ethanol (at at least 3 times the volume to extract the alkaloids. Wait at least a few days to a week before straining.
15: Pour the alcoholic extract into a small glass dropper bottle, perhaps adding a bit of citric acid to turn the alkaloids into salts.
16: Store it in a cool/dry, place away from light, until you're ready to use it.
