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Extract guide wanted?

impending_bending

impending_bending

Hi all,
Thinking of posting an extract guide, but its a lot of typing so I want to see if there is any interest first... Let me know your thoughts and I'll post a comprehensive guide if anyone wants it.
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I am giving it a try.
 
I currently have a pint jar with 1/2 cup of Everclear and 15 powdered Morugas and 15 powdered Butch T in the refrigerator.
 
A few more days of soaking and I am going to start the evaporation.
 
Looking forward to seeing your method.
 
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That is so wild---I never thought of trying to crystallize the Capsaicin but it should work as your picture shows. I have a BS in chemistry but never thought of trying to do that---well done impending and alkall---I am impressed and looking forward to your updates and processes.
 
By the way your crystal looks good with nice clean color and clarity. I wonder if it is 6 million on the scale? Send it in for evaluation if you have the money. Somewhere in here there is a address for Capsaicin lab evaluation or maybe some one can post it here.
 
Are you going to sell it? Would be nice to see a auction for the crystal and see what it brings. Put it in a little sample jar for Bio hazards. You don't want that mean little bugger to be set loose accidentally.
 
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ethanol is miscible in water. how are you going to prevent the water soluble junk from contaminating your extract?
 
i dont usually brandy my own stuff around, but search for "fun with a soxhlet" or something like that.
 
soxhlet isnt even really necessary, just makes the whole deal much less labor intensive.
 
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queequeg - There are many methods of extraction, not all refer to capsaicin extraction - a lot yield other part of the pepper too, which isn't necessarily bad... That said, it is possible to remove the water from the ethanol using something like magnesium sulfate... Lots of methods, will elaborate soon. Also, thanks for the tip; I'm always looking for new info on the subject.  
 
alkhall - sounds badass but why do you have it in the fridge? Take that baby out and put it somewhere warm!!
 
Balac - this particular one isn't pure capsaicin, it's got other stuff too, but hot as hell still. It will be cool to get your input on chemical processes.
 
 
 
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howardsnm1 said:
Sounds interesting...
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compmodder26 said:
I'm sure we'd all like to see one!
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Ok then, coming soon. In the meantime, the convo is more active on the pepper crystals thread. 
 
 
 
queequeg152 said:
is that oleoresin?
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Yes and no... sort of. In this case there are some additional carbohydrates that allow for the crystallization. These could be removed but for this particular purpose I wanted something solid as opposed to a soft resin.
 
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impending_bending said:
queequeg - There are many methods of extraction, not all refer to capsaicin extraction - a lot yield other part of the pepper too, which isn't necessarily bad... That said, it is possible to remove the water from the ethanol using something like magnesium sulfate... Lots of methods, will elaborate soon. Also, thanks for the tip; I'm always looking for new info on the subject.  
 
alkhall - sounds badass but why do you have it in the fridge? Take that baby out and put it somewhere warm!!
 
Balac - this particular one isn't pure capsaicin, it's got other stuff too, but hot as hell still. It will be cool to get your input on chemical processes.
 
 
Click to expand...
magnesium sulfate aka epsom salt... is a simple ionic salt as we all know and will readily dissolve to some decent extent in alcohol.
 
you CAN distill alcohol over epsom salt under vacuum to get a pretty damn dry etoh that will not have traces of epsom salt dissolved.
but you have to keep in mind that etoh is insanely hydrophillic, and will suck moisture right out of the air if given any decent amount of time.  there are better ways to dry alcohol however.
 
imo ethanol is too polar to be a worth dealing with. its also problematic to strip.
idk anything about biochemistry, but if i had to guess... what you are obtaining is some kind of coagulated or coalesced collection of plant lipids AND capsacium. lipids ( i think) are just fats waxes etc. plant glycerine for example is a somewhat processed lipid.
 
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queequeg152 said:
magnesium sulfate aka epsom salt... is a simple ionic salt as we all know and will readily dissolve to some decent extent in alcohol.
 
you CAN distill alcohol over epsom salt under vacuum to get a pretty damn dry etoh that will not have traces of epsom salt dissolved.
but you have to keep in mind that etoh is insanely hydrophillic, and will suck moisture right out of the air if given any decent amount of time.  there are better ways to dry alcohol however.
 
imo ethanol is too polar to be a worth dealing with. its also problematic to strip.

idk anything about biochemistry, but if i had to guess... what you are obtaining is some kind of coagulated or coalesced collection of plant lipids AND capsacium. lipids ( i think) are just fats waxes etc. plant glycerine for example is a somewhat processed lipid.
Click to expand...
 
Thank you, but I am well aware of the chemistry here from my PhD studies. You sound like you also have a background in chemistry..??
You are correct about MgSO4 solubility in EtOH - its only slightly soluble though and to me that is acceptable in some cases :) It was also just an example... You are also correct about the other contents - I did not claim those pictures were pure cap just hab extract.
However, MgSO4 is not epsom salt, strickly speaking. Epsom salt is magnesium sulfate heptahydrate (typically) whereas the appropriate form to use is anhydrous. All-in-all, if you don't want any laxative traces remaining, acetone is a better solvent to use. I'll post detailed processes soon, covering extraction and a certain degree of purification toward just cap, but seeing as most people probably don't have lots of lab equipment and reagents lying around, I'm going for more of a MacGyver-type approach that will certainly not yield 100% pure capsaicin... 
Also, I'm not sure what happened, but the threads got combined... Guessing it was a moderator - whoever the hell you are, thanks!
 
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