Author Topic: safrole extraction methods, alternatives  (Read 1463 times)

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maxscorpio

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safrole extraction methods, alternatives
« on: January 10, 2003, 11:07:00 AM »
If swim has trouble steam distilling camphor woodchips, I am wondering if the chips could be soaked in ethanol or methanol to leech out the alcohol soluble safrole?

I read on rhodiums site a solvent FAQ that said that methanol has the property of leeching through plant cell membrane/walls.
safrole also has a 1:1 ratio of dissolving in alcohol.
any ideas or info anyone?

ps i dont know if this should go in methods forum or newbee

madprosr

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i started a thread on this possibly called...
« Reply #1 on: January 10, 2003, 11:57:00 AM »
i started a thread on this possibly called safrole extraction solvents...
alcohols, acetone and some other solvents should work fine. you will probably want to vacuum filter before distilling.

with s. albidium:
swim never tried it, because steam distillation is a much more selective extraction for volatile oils. swim clamped some vinyl tubing onto a pressure cooker with a hose clamp, ran the tube through a grommet into the bottom of a 5L cylindrical coffee maker, lowered the coffee basket and loaded it with rootbark, affixed the lid with a hole drilled to fit his 19/22 still-head with the joint wrapped in teflon tape, and connected 3 100mm condensors. swim plugs in the coffee maker to prevent water from collecting in it. works great. clear sassafras oil falls out of the water. swim can run 20quarts of water through the chamber while he sleeps.

extract the FRESHEST rootbark you can get. in swim's experience, 2 week dried is as good as bunk.

hrm, you might want to check the composition of those camphor chips. i think the essential oil is 95% camphor, 5% safrole. depending on region. swim distilled some 'pure' 'unadulterated' camphor oil (not white camphor oil) from a 1oz bottle and found no safrole in it.

are you in china or what?