solvent questions regarding low yield from acuminta phyllodes

[omnilucident]

hey guys, after literally over 18 months of various failures due to limited resources I finally have extracted crystal spice.

but my yields are pathetic. 2.5g after 10 pulls from 2kg+ of acuminata phyllodes.


I'm using 'diggers' shelite with super heat baths and lots of naoh to heat solution.

as I'm in oz would zippo lighter fluid be better then this cheap bunnungs shellite?
or am I better off using xylene then salting?

also if I evaporate a xylene pull and end up with an oily mess (I don't defeat due to high amounts of oils from phyllodes) can I then recrsytalise the residue with naphtha?


also has anyone in australia found an online or IRL source of heptane??

 

[omnilucident]

perhaps my low yielding pulls are from high amount of oils in pull?

my shellitw comes out a dark green, and my first precipitation yields green crystals before I re-x them.

 

[acacian]

Shellite is quite variable... a while back I was having a lot of success with it though it hasn't worked as well lately in the sense that it doesn't seem to hold quiteas much dmt... still pulls lovely snowglobes though and I'm quite certain that 10 pulls with warm shellite in a well based solution will get it all out depending on howmuch soup your dealing with..especially if you add non iodised salt to your soup (helps push the alkaloids into the non polar layer).
I assume you did an A/B? STB isn't recommended.. could you describe your method in more detail? You don't usually need to defatt with phyllodes from species in section julifloreae but considering you used 2.5kg you may need to. Did you use the narrow or broad phyllode variant? Oh and I'd recommend using toluene, xylene or dcm.. especially if using the broader phyllode variant as they pick up more alkaloids

Was there heavy rain before you gathered the phyllodes? Rain decreases yield quite a lot. Acuminata flowers around late winter to spring so if it is in flower now then that is of course another variable - even if it is just the developing rods. A lot of people find drastically reduced yields during flowering.. sometimes dmt being completely absent. I doubt that would be the case with a source as generally consistent as acuminata though.

and hey.. you've got 2.5g of spice now.. regardless of the yield in relation to the amount of phyllodes used, thats a nice stash of dmt for yourself. enjoy

 

[omnilucident]

thanks! really good to hear from someone who has worked with acuminata a lot.

it's more I was just frustrated at the low yield after some trial and error. i really want to perfect my extraction technique.
2.5g will last me some time

no rain that i'm aware of, i think it was a super dry june in my hometown.
the flower rods were beginning to develop with no visible yellow color, and it was mostly from narrow phyllodes but i think one may have been of the broad variety (only took small batches from many different trees.

I use a high powered kitchen processor to grind leaves to powder with chunks.
then i do three simmers for an hour each in a 6 Liter pressure cooker with PH 4 water using Tartaric Acid.
Reduce to about 1.75L
Filter
Put into HDPE 2L Jug.
Add enough Naoh to get PH of 14
Pour in 200ml Naptha.
Put in Bucket of near-boiling water as heat bath.
When super warm shake for 5-10 minutes vigourously, tipping end to end.
Put back in heat bath
Pull 200ml Shellite off
Combine 5 x 200ml pulls.
evap 1000ml to 5-600ml.
freeze precipitate.
re-crystalise with naptha in jar within a heat bath several times.

I did a pinch of salt, but had no idea how much to put in?

I'm thinking of just using Xylene, and re-x-ing from an post-evaporation product.

 

[shanedudddy2]

Myself and a friend (both Aussies) do initial pulls with Toluene or Xylene, then evap.
This leaves a red goop.
We then do an initial re-xtal with warm Zippo fuel, adding a small amount to the goop.
filter off the liquid, and freeze precip xtals.
The process is often repeated again (freeze precip xtals are redisolved in warm zippo, then freeze precip'd once more) to result in very pure crystal shards.
This is our process with Mimosa, but I have done similar with Acuminata as well.
Personally, I haven't had great results in the past from Shellite for pulling, even when heated considerably.
Just be lucky you live in Perth...a FAR FAR better City than I
Cheers.

 

[acacian]

I haven't worked with acuminata myself ^ but that is my experience in extracting from other acacias

 

[omnilucident]

so which is better out of xylene and toluene?
thanks so much shaneduddy2, this is exactly the process i was thinking of doing.
do you use phyllodes or bark?

 

[shanedudddy2]

Good minds think alike haha
for Acuminata, twigs and phyllodes.
For pulling DMT, I think they are much the muchness, but I think Xylene smells worse and is more toxic to humans, as such, I use toluene.

 

[omnilucident]

I bought xylene because i have no idea where to buy toulene in small quantities.

This time I have used a heap of bark from dead trees because in the past I remember getting a shitload of this red goo from naptha evaporation when i was first experimenting.

after first few pulls with xylene (very hot, straight after basing) i've noticed it isn't anywhere near as colorful as my shellite pulls. pale yellow compared to the dark yellow i used to get. i've decided to leave it after the second 200ml pull and evaporate them to see if it worth continuing.

any advice for speeding up xylene evaporation? atm it is outside with a fan on it in a pyrex baking dish.

think i will stick to leaves and twigs from now on, the dead bark is just so damn easy to collect off of windblown trees and i don't have to dry out a heap of leaves in the oven.

has anyone here gotten dark green crystals like me?
they are seriously so much nicer then my refined yellow spice.