Hi, Swims gerbil has just done a Limonene extraction and conversion to fumarate on about 500g of Mimosa. Atm His product looks very like this; (Thanks to mimosadmtastronaut for the pic)







Is there any "food safe" way to clean or Re-X Fumarate crystals without using Naphta/Xylene etc?

What do you mean by food safe ? Without the use of petrochemicals ?

You could try converting them into freebase (via sodium carbonate) and then back to fumarate ? I'm not sure if that would help though.

Secondly, is you product any different than most limonene users ? I think that's good enough for most ? Or not ? Hope someone will add their experience if this color appears with limonene and if it's "OK".

Well acetone re-x, if you can find USP grade acetone. Or USP grade IPA. While its not exactly foodsafe, they will evap cleanly leaving no toxic residues, so its perfect.

Or ethanol re-x could work too, im not sure but its worth a try.

End: Could you comment of the need for re-X ? Is this a common limonene extraction result ? Also does the convertion to freebase and back change the visuals of it ?

well considering you are using pure chemicals in the process, there shouldn't be any nasty residues, just maybe plant oils/impurities and some limonene too.

Limonene is taken as a supplement, its not harmful to ingest in small amounts. Still some people dont like the solvent feeling in the belly (oh but I assure you limonene burps are heaven compared to petrochemical burps :evil: )

But appart from a purely functional aspect of why recrystallizing, once you get into extractions and chemistry there is also this certain something about looking for purity. There's this alchemical feeling somehow. Or just the curious spirit somehow desiring to test these new processes.

So while I dont think its really necessary, I do think one can benefit in experimenting with purification. Its always good to try for the first times with only part of the batch, and then also be able to compare yield, looks, even bioassay, etc. Just dont throw anything away before final results are over because if something doesnt go as expected you can always retrieve back the product.


As for convertion to freebase and back, yeah I can imagine it could change the looks if it lost some impurities on the way. Im not sure how much limonene it would get rid of.

I have Acetone and IPA. Which one would you recommend? Also could you give me a brief description of what a re-crystallization procedure involves?

Does it go as follows; 1) place products in a container together with the intended solvent 2) swish around to dissolve crystals 3)decant to an evap dish leaving impurities undissolved at the bottom of the container and 4) Evaporate off the solvent leaving crystals behind?

Took one for the team, ay ?

I was actually hoping that you would/or not reassure the OP that this color is nothing to worry about with limonene extraction. Messed thoughts, messed times, I'll try again..

1. Is this color common for limonene extractions ?

2. Do you find re-X neccesary with limonene extractions ?

If you're not a limonene hippy as my friend would say, then disregard and regards.

Those fumarates look just like the one's around here.

If you want to get rid of the orange smell, I know a way. I'm not sure its worth the trouble, but I love the floral smell freebase has...and the limonene was covering it up. This is what I didn't do:

Convert your fum's to freebase (see wiki)

Grind/crumble that freebase up (will still smell limonene-ish)

Add a little sodium carb to some DISTILLED water (distilled because if you are trying to clean up something, tap water seems like a step backwards)

Dump your freebase into the slightly basic distilled water and swirl it around (the limo residue will comeoff and float to the top)

Allow your freebase to settle completely and pour off the water (along with the residual limonene)

Repeat if you like

Now, you've got wet freebase... let it dry out and you will notice almost NO LIMO-SMELL.

Woot Woot

I know..... what about the n-oxide...isn't that soluble in water?

I think it is.... but there isn't as much of it as you may think in a mimosa extract. And, Q21 did a test that showed its hardly active. I don't care.... I really like the way spice smells without the orange-ness

Im not sure which is better, I seem to remember both worked fine but its been long since I did it. The process would be more or less as you said except you should have your solvent boiling/hot by doing a hot water bath (no open fires!). Then stick in the freezer instead of evapping, leave it for 3-5 days.

Its possible not many impurities stay behind as a goo when dissolving it in the hot solvent, dont worry, the impurities will stay behind in the solvent when freezing. Just dont throw anything away till its all finished so nothing is lost.



1- I dont know how common it is, but its ok if it happens, as I said, its normal plant impurities most likely.

2- As I said, its not essential but I think everyone should do a re-x at least once with part of the product and then they can decide for themselves if next time they wanna do it or not. Better that people have experience and autonomy than that they just follow what an older member thinks


As madcap said doing the water crystallization to freebase also can clean it up. If you want to, say, convert a quarter of what you have to freebase, a quarter do the re-x, and half leave as it is, and compare results, do post here.. Otherwise post anyways whatever you do so others can learn from it