I'm extracting from acacia bark. I've had previous attempts which failed. I used Lex teks A/B method using 2kg of bark. I put my failure down to cutting corners in my extraction (not grinding bark enough) or more likely the bark being very low in alkaloids (only pulled 50mg out of 2kg).
I am reattempting a modified Lex method.
-Firstly I'm scaling down the operation to only 500g of acacia bark until I get efficient at the process (possibly maidenii, longifolia, obtusifolia or a hybrid collected form east Gippsland).
-Secondly I've performed an acid soak for a few days (2L of white vinegar and 2L of water) then 2 hour boil.
-Thirdly I want to perform a "STB" type extraction on the bark + vinegar solution.
My concern is how much lye I should use. I understand that the pH should be above 12, turning the solution a darker color the higher the pH is. I dont own a digital pH reader and can't find any litmus paper (anyone know were to get it in Aus?). Lexs tek says to use 100g for the 2kg of bark, should I use this same amount or considerably less because i have less bark/solution? Also, because I'm doing a "STB" with a acid soak, do i need to use more because of the bark material?
Any help is greatly appreciated. I hope it works this time! Will take pics if it works out.
Cheeser
I am reattempting a modified Lex method.
-Firstly I'm scaling down the operation to only 500g of acacia bark until I get efficient at the process (possibly maidenii, longifolia, obtusifolia or a hybrid collected form east Gippsland).
-Secondly I've performed an acid soak for a few days (2L of white vinegar and 2L of water) then 2 hour boil.
-Thirdly I want to perform a "STB" type extraction on the bark + vinegar solution.
My concern is how much lye I should use. I understand that the pH should be above 12, turning the solution a darker color the higher the pH is. I dont own a digital pH reader and can't find any litmus paper (anyone know were to get it in Aus?). Lexs tek says to use 100g for the 2kg of bark, should I use this same amount or considerably less because i have less bark/solution? Also, because I'm doing a "STB" with a acid soak, do i need to use more because of the bark material?
Any help is greatly appreciated. I hope it works this time! Will take pics if it works out.
Cheeser
