Hello, I have a question for some of you more experienced members. I have been spending the past few months reading as much as I have time for and working out a way to perform a tek that suits what I have at my disposal.
The question I have is about the difference between phyllode teks, and how some teks call for soaking phyllodes in methanol. The Phyllodes in question I believe are from an acacia maidenii, but then again this is only my best assumption based on the trees I've seen.
Now in most teks (at least for bark), source material is to be dried, frozen, thawed, and then have a standard A/B tek carried out. Vinegar, Caustic Soda, Salt, Shellite.
Makes sense to me.
(Thank you Elfspice for your very detailed tek...all the way back from 2003! <3)
However I have also read a few posts (Cosmic Spore repost, OC gone i think), that suggest shaking/soaking the leaves in Methanol first, or other steps that include soaking in pure spirits.
Now this seems odd to me. My understanding is the acid makes alkaloids water soluble, and the Base makes the alkaloids solvent soluble, then simply decant and precip. (basic explanation on my part). I don't understand what this soak is for, is it to just help release alkaloids? Or is there more to it?
I'm just a bit confused, I want to make the most of the phyllodes I have without taking more just because I'm uneducated and mess up my tek.
So should a standard freeze/thaw A/B tek be effective on Phyllodes? Or should I be reading more into the methanol soaks? The tek I have found using the methanol is written in a way that is not very clear to me (no offense im sorry).
If any information could be shed on this situation or any preferred teks for phyllodes are around, please do share this with me, Im greatly appreciative. Thank you guys
