Harmala CWE experiment

[Ambrosaure]

@Ambrosaure another base that is convenient in availability and in not having any risks of having excess base in the end result is ammonia.


What helps break down the fibers is the process of freezing and thawing, so they don't need to remain frozen for any particular time. Once they're completely frozen you can thaw them already (although there's no harm in leaving them frozen for longer).

thanks! finally I found soda pretty easily so I took that, but I note ammnoiac for next time (but it's more expansive than soda)

Also, I'm not sure if I understood right this part of the recipe so in case:

• In the morning I decanted as much as possible of the liquid, acidified with vinegar until color change is observed and the solution becomes fluorescent again, I add a bit more acid for good measure but a lot of stuff won't dissolve so one should not keep adding acid. I let the solution rest for some hours for the impurities to settle, then pour the solution slowly through a coffee filter leaving the impurities till the end so they won't clog the filter early on.
• I then based again using as little base as I could, let settle, decanted and did 2-3 water washes with at least 10x the volume each (I used mineral water with 7.9 pH). Finally I moved it to a narrow cup and let it settle in the fridge, poured off the water, and put it a wide dish to dry on the roof in the shade.

What I understand is:
- basify the harmalas liquid will decant it (make visible separation between the tannin and harmalas) (and also what should the liquid color look like at this point?)
- wait until it's the most decant it can get
- put back vinegar (we don't took anything before that from the yellow liquids right?)
- filter to get off impurities
- base again, decant, wait
- and now we can get the harmala white powder? not sure if i'm right. So we filter the potion to get that, wash it with water (I don't understand "10x volume each", if we have like 1g of powder thats mean 10g of water?)
- and then dry it

I'm gonna basify for the first time in my life, I hope it's gonna work

 

[Transform]

super cheap sodium carbonate at the store so I'm just gonna buy that

While that is absolutely OK, it's still worth noting that the SC produced from baking soda would technically be closer to food grade than the stuff (presumably Heitmann brand, if I'm inferring your region correctly?) which is sold as a cleaning agent (and there's also the stuff sold as "aktiv Natron" which is essential the cleaning-grade form of sodium bicarbonate).

visible separation between the tannin and harmalas

While I wouldn't necessarily call the base-soluble components of rue 'tannins', the rest of your procedure looks about right. Patience is key - you're gonna get a lot of practice with decanting, and bear in mind that if you keep your supernatant and washings, you'll be able to rescue some of the fine solids that sometimes escape. Have a plentiful supply of large jars ready, and best of luck!