Hey everybody,

I've had a pretty interesting idea involving using chitin (or chitosan) that needs some experimentation done in order to prove if my hypothesis is correct.

So, Chitin, and its deacelyated form chitosan, is the second most abundant polymer found in nature. It is found in the exoskeletons of crustaceans and makes up the cell wall of fungi. Chitosan is more commonly used due to its exposed amines that readily bind to substances which makes it a great anti-bacterial and a huge range of over 600 or something known benefits. Anyways it is used as a dietary fiber that has the amazing ability to bind to lipids - this is where I thought it would be quite viable in removing fat particles from a NP solvent in a DMT or other similar extractions resulting in a more pure extraction

Here is a video, not the greatest, demonstrating how chitosan can bind to fat and make it more dense causing it to sink > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaVZSrNYdjc

Now I live in Australia so Chitosan is not as readily availaible as it is in the US, feel free to experiment with this idea at home if you have access to it! Also chitosan is not toxic to the human body so it would be a great addition for defatting in those food-sake TEKS around.

Some issues could possibly be;

-Chitosan binding to the DMT, maybe a chemist could chime in on this?

-The chitosan not seperating into the bottom layer resulting in it staying in your NP solvent.

Would love some feedback on this guys!

Also chitosan is quite easy to make at home, check out the below two videos on how to do it!

Chitin from fungi > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7szHKk7nPs
Chitin from cuttlefish > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7szHKk7nPs

Isn't that the thing that bug's exoskeleton and wings are made off?

If so, I'm going to hunt some roaches.

Yes, you should be able to buy it from a chemistry as a 'fat burner' or something similar. Though the stuff at the chemist is not usually 100% chitosan

Hey everybody,

I've had a pretty interesting idea involving using chitin (or chitosan) that needs some experimentation done in order to prove if my hypothesis is correct.

So, Chitin, and its deacelyated form chitosan, is the second most abundant polymer found in nature. It is found in the exoskeletons of crustaceans and makes up the cell wall of fungi. Chitosan is more commonly used due to its exposed amines that readily bind to substances which makes it a great anti-bacterial and a huge range of over 600 or something known benefits. Anyways it is used as a dietary fiber that has the amazing ability to bind to lipids - this is where I thought it would be quite viable in removing fat particles from a NP solvent in a DMT or other similar extractions resulting in a more pure extraction

Here is a video, not the greatest, demonstrating how chitosan can bind to fat and make it more dense causing it to sink > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaVZSrNYdjc

Now I live in Australia so Chitosan is not as readily availaible as it is in the US, feel free to experiment with this idea at home if you have access to it! Also chitosan is not toxic to the human body so it would be a great addition for defatting in those food-sake TEKS around.

Some issues could possibly be;

-Chitosan binding to the DMT, maybe a chemist could chime in on this?

-The chitosan not seperating into the bottom layer resulting in it staying in your NP solvent.

Would love some feedback on this guys!

Also chitosan is quite easy to make at home, check out the below two videos on how to do it!

Chitin from fungi > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7szHKk7nPs
Chitin from cuttlefish > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7szHKk7nPs

That first video: they actually defat water, not defat a NP solvent.

The regular defats (using a NP solvent to defat) are also done in (acidy) water, so you might substitute the defatting NP solvent with you chitosan, and coffee filter it out.

Even when that works out fine, is chitosan not more of a deal than simple NP solvent to defat with? I can see food grade reasoning, but then the further pulling (in base) should be food grade too, to be consistent.

Thanks for mentioning the chitosan, didn't knew about it.
Who knows it has hidden advantages.