first yr chem student here on my first extraction from mimosa hostilis.
i pulled off .29gr off of 50gr so not the best yield but i was pretty jazzed about it.
Using vovins tek i began the defatting phase and completed three defats. during each defat when i drained the solution from the naptha there was this opal/ivory colored 'foam' in the naptha. at first i thought it was fat from the solution but after sitting for a week i started to see solution settling at the bottom of the jar of naptha. i also had this foam appear after i added naptha to the basified solution in the final extraction phase. what is this? i didn't think i was rotating my separatory funnel fast enough to cause an emulsion
help?
thnx in advance

I've done a couple extractions with mimosa, enough to say that I think what you're seeing is really, just emulsion. It kinda seems to bubble up and stick in the naptha layer. If this is your problem then add heat to you solution jar. You can place the jar in a pot full of water on the stove and slowly warm till the solutions reaches a temp of at least 110-120 Fahrenheit and keep warm for an hour or two, and repeat if necessary. This helps settle the emulsion. I hope this is the advice you need...

Peace

much obliged!
from what i have read the mimosa bark is a fairly fat free substance so i wasn't sure if i should be seeing that much fat. thnx for the info. im getting ready to attempt a 200g extraction and will try this hot water bath, do you think rotating the separatory funnel at a gentler pace would keep the emulsion from forming? would rotating it gentler prevent the naptha from coming in contact with as much dmt freebase as possible?

add more lye and add some salt and emulsions settle.... no worries

Endlessness Wrote: Yep, that and a warm bath for the container will do the trick, if the warm bath becomes necessary...