Acolon_5, that's actually a very popular misunderstanding.
Ammonia is a strong enough base (pH 11.6). You only need pH 11 to freebase nearly everything in the seeds. Bufotenine’s pKa of 9.67 is the highest of all the alkaloids in the seeds. So when making snuff, even a pKa of 9.67 is extremely effective. That’s the pH the nasal passages should be at or higher for best absorption effects.
The reason ammonia doesn’t work well for making snuff is because it evaporates.
Lime (calcium hydroxide, pH of 12.4) doesn’t evaporate away. The lime that’s left in the snuff helps the active chemicals absorb through the nasal passages. It does this by keeping the pH in the nose alkaline. Without the lime, the actives will start becoming salts right in the nose. This will prevent them from absorbing properly.
So, yes, when making snuff, ammonia isn’t very effective, because it doesn’t keep the nose alkaline because it all evaporates away. This is why lime is used.
However, ammonia is superior when making a smoking product from the seeds. This is because when making a smoking product, all you need is the freebase the alkaloids. Its better to use ammonia when you’re going to smoke the seeds. It doesn’t add bulk like lime does.
So, if your plan is to make traditional snuff, use lime, but if you’re planning to smoke the seeds, use ammonia.
Don’t use sodium bicarbonate (pH 8.3). It can’t freebase all the alkaloids and doesn’t make the nose alkaline enough for use as snuff. Sodium carbonate (pH 11.5) does freebase all the alkaloids but it’s too strong for use in snuff. It’s very effective in snuff, but will give you a bad chemical burn.
Lime is the best for use in snuff. The reason is that its very poorly soluble and stays in the nose for a long time keeping the pH in the nose very alkaline for a long time. Something like sodium carbonate is very soluble and will be washed away more quickly than lime by the mucous in the nose. So sodium carbonate is great for bringing the nose pH up really fast and really high, but its effect is short lived because it rapidly dissolves.
It’s possible that calcium carbonate may be useful for snuff. Like lime (calcium hydroxide), it’s very insoluble and should keep the nose alkaline for a long time. It’s not alkaline enough to burn you, but should be alkaline enough ( pH 9.8 ) to freebase more than 50% of the alkaloids. It will indeed keep the pH of the nose alkaline enough for proper absorption.
Has anyone tried calcium carbonate with Yopo?