Good idea putting out the call, Jees, being that I am *not* a trained chemist.

I do have some basis for how I will proceed, however--- see the attached document that provides some assistance with use of microwave for different solvent/solute combos.

Here are some useful sentences providing guidance:

"increasing the power will generally improve the extraction yield and result in shorter extraction time. On the other hand, high microwave power can cause poor extraction yield because of the degradation of thermally sensitive compounds. Also, rapid rupture of the cell wall takes place at a higher temperature when using higher power, and as a result impurities can also be leached out into the solvent together with the desired solute"

I am not worried about the harmalas being fragile, since the microwave should only heat the solvent to 100c. I don't want to pick up too many impurities, however. The good news here is that a properly tuned microwave may be able to release the harmalas with less impurities, though we won't know til we try.

" In many cases the extraction recovery is improved by the matrix moisture, which acts as a solvent. The moisture in the matrix is heated, evaporated, and generates 

292 Fundamentals of Microwave Extraction

internal pressure in the cell, which ruptures the cell to release the solutes, hence improving the extraction yield."

Hence the soaking

"occasionally, when longer extraction time is required, the samples are extracted in multiple steps using consecutive extraction cycles, which are also an example of the use of a larger amount of solvent and higher microwave application time.  In this case, the fresh solvent is fed to the residue and the process is repeated to guarantee the exhaustion of the matrix. With this procedure, the extraction yield is enhanced, avoiding long heating." 

YAY! BTW, over heating with time seems to present the same problems as too much power, so the issue will be how many impurities will we get with the desired amount of salts.

" in conventional extractions, the use of large volumes of solvent increases the extraction recovery. Studies reported that the extraction solution must not exceed 30–34% (w/v).  In many applications a ratio 10:1 (ml/mg) to 20:1 (ml/mg) was found to be optimal"

By using four cycles of 3:1 water:seeds (33% w/v), I have a total 12:1 ratio.

Soooo-- I am open to suggestions, but expect to run each solvent run on high (1200W) for 5 minutes each. See the example given for pectin from grapefruit.