Removing fats and oils via steam distillation

[Rick Sanchez]

I know that a steam extraction on acrb would yield no spice, but might it be an efficient way to remove oils and fats from the plant material prior to extraction? Perhaps some beta-carbolines would even be carried through with the oil so your waste product would have some kind of psychoactive value besides just being a pleasant smelling acacia essential oil. If this process actually works, it could theoretically be used to defat a kilo or so of bark at a time which could then be stored and used at the alchemist's leisure. Does anyone have any experience trying to distill acrb or with steam distillation of essential oils in general to shine some light on this? I probably won't have the equipment to try it myself for at least another month.

 

[Ulim]

I think most of the oils wouldnt be distilled off but it would be leeched out and drop down into the boiling flask similar to a soxhlet. Also it would be rather toasty and the dmt will start to degrade.

I have the apparatus to try but I dont have acacia and I dont want to buy some just to waste it.

Its possible to probably steam distill off the dmt with a solvent with reduced fat content but all in all its not worht it.

 

[downwardsfromzero]

Yeah, I think 1ce tried that with cyclohexanol as the co-distillant. Not strictly steam distillation, but he claimed it works.

Fats and fatty oils are not steam volatile; and I don't think it's essential oils that are the concern with ACRB.

 

[Ulim]

Yeah, I think 1ce tried that with cyclohexanol as the co-distillant. Not strictly steam distillation, but he claimed it works.

Fats and fatty oils are not steam volatile; and I don't think it's essential oils that are the concern with ACRB.

Yeah i guess you need something to pull the dmt but in the end you just distill off the dmt and leave the oils.

 

[pitubo]

Do plant roots contain much oil, as in triglycerides, at all? IIRC there's mostly waxes (high molar weight ethers). Ethers could be more steam volatile than triglycerides.

Anyway, steam distillation sounds like a very impractical or even useless idea for defatting plant material prior to extractions. Just do a regular defat during the acidic stage of an acid/base extraction.