I've got a big container with about 100g of Chacruna in lye solution with some limonene sitting here for a few days now.... initially I did not powderize the leaves as they were well shredded already. The limonene was not rising to the top, possibly cos some of the leaf material was floating up, so I got out the blender and pulverized the mix, put it back in and waited, still no seperation, so I added some more lye water, still nothing, then added a bit more lye straight into the container... still no seperation! last thing I did was add some more limonene, which seems to have helped a bit but not very much. I assume I have an emulsion; are there any tricks to forcing the seperation or could I have gone wrong somewhere?

Any advice much appreciated, thx ppl.

SWIM had to put in more lye than specified, but also separated inside in a heat bath... worked well... SWIM's was finely ground first, but on the 3rd limo pull now, already 1g fuma from 50g, but I guess that will come down.

I'd just like to confirm what you mean by a heat bath - I assume putting the container in a bath of hot water?
I will try this too.. the container is sitting in the same cupboard as the boiler in my flat, a good place for leaving extractions due to the hot pipes... but maybe more heat is needed to encourage seperation.

Thanks Ibeing.

exactly.

did u defat ?

No, I didnt... from what I read here, defat was not necessary for the limonene tek.

thats true when working with bark - i think the problem has just been identified - as for a solution, turning the solution acidic - then defatting - then back to basic and then pulling may solve the issue. - gonna need some backup on this tho.

SWIM collected almost 2g fumarate from 50g chacruna now, without the defat... it's gotta be mostly fumaratic and fat... anything I should try? bare in mind it looks just like those pics I posted from somewhere else... spiky little off white crystals

wash with acetone ?

hi guys,

been away for a while, left my chacruna+lye+limonene mix sitting .. still no separation, so I seived out the plant material as it seemed the material flaoting to the top might be getting in the way of the limonene separating out. So I did that... added a little more limonene to the top to help it along, and also put into a heat bath.. still no sign of the limonene floating to the top (apart from the small bit I just added).

If anyone has any tips I might be able to try to get rid of the emulsion, would be much appreciated. Phlux already suggested "turning the solution acidic - then defatting - then back to basic and then pulling" .. which I have not tried yet, was hoping for a simpler option, as others who have tried this tek with chacruna did not report this issue.

Thanks ppl.

thats really strange...so you separated the leaf matter from the mix and still no separation?that is strange indeed...

yes .. I also tried the other day, to pour out a bit to experiment on... gave it a good heat bath, and added more lye... kept thinking it was looking like it was separating... but no. All the limonene seems to just get sucked into the mix, once its mixed that is. Very frustrating!

so .. if I did do the defat, by acidifying the solution, what would happen to the limonene? I have never done a defat before, and TBH want to avoid horrible solvents if at all possible.

Once the solution is thoroughly acidified (pH 3-4) the limonene may separate on it's own.

If not, 150-200ml of limonene can be added in to try and pull the fats along with the embedded limonene out of the acid solution. Hopefully this amount will be enough to form a decent layer that will be easier to remove.

Once separation occurs the limonene can be gathered and discarded as it now has the fats.

The solution could now be filtered (if needed) and heavily basified.

Fresh limonene could now be used to try and pull with less emulsion.

The Cosmic Lion rawrs for your success

So, I decided to just keep adding limonene, and finally saw some seperation, although there was still some emulsion going on... like about 1/4 to 1/2 the limonene seemed to be dissapearing. So anyway, I've pulled from the chacruna+lye solution 3 times, and just started salting out with FASW. Its interesting - the limonene goes a very yellow colour, (more than with MHRB I think) and turns realy orange once its shaken up with the FASW - never seen that with MHRB. Tonight I will evap what will hopefully be the dmt-fumerate.. not expecting too much but hoping for something!

cool dude...really interested in the results..

i think the best way to use FASW and d-limo with chacruna or chali would be to do an a/b and then filter out the solids...freebase then pull with d-limo..then FASW

I'ma getting on a chali extraction in a month or so and I planned on doing it just like this.

So with the FASW step, you think that makes initial defats unecassary?

What acid would you use... does it matter? Would vinegar be ok?
So I guess the procedure would be something like this:

Boil chacruna/chali leaves in acidified water 3 times
Filter, combine and reduce
Add lye to raise the pH (I read somewhere pH 9.5 would be sufficient)
Then pull with d-limo 3 times, followed by FASW.

?

im pretty sure that should work..im NOT sure on the FASW working as a defat step..but i feel that it should...the oils wont go into the acidic water...i feel the d-limo SHOULD hold the oils..BUT you might get better yields per pull if you defat first

Well - today I scraped up what is prob about 70mg of DMT (at a guess) - the stuff I managed to scrape was about 40mg and there was a fair bit left stuck to the dish so that is my guess. Well, I sure wont be doing it this way again...! A lot of effort for very little dmt!
Next time, I think I will try with Hawaiian Chacruna and use the A/B tek.

i don't read waht your non polar was?did you use naptha?you may still just have basic water/limone and chacruna mix,you need to add a solvent like naptha or shellite to get a second layer.I only ask cause your first comment says

"I've got a big container with about 100g of Chacruna in lye solution with some limonene sitting here for a few days now.... initially I did not powderize the leaves as they were well shredded already. The limonene was not rising to the top, possibly cos some of the leaf material was floating up, so I got out the blender and pulverized the mix, put it back in and waited, still no seperation, so I added some more lye water, still nothing, then added a bit more lye straight into the container... still no seperation! last thing I did was add some more limonene, which seems to have helped a bit but not very much. I assume I have an emulsion; are there any tricks to forcing the seperation or could I have gone wrong somewhere?"

You have to have a solvent and naptha is highly recomended,it wont work unless you use a solvent.Im not that familiar with d limonene,is it a solvent?I assume it is or that would be a big noob mistake,possibly not enough d limone was used or the ph wasnt high enough maybe.

I just did an xtract with mhrb and chacruna combined and is turning out excelent results,the combined plants is working swell.

Good luck bro!