Swim was wondering if moldy root bark would be problematic and was wondering if anyone else has ever extracted it with the mold. Is there a possibility of extracting a toxin and dmt? Or would the various chemical process render it safe? If not, would it be possible to disinfect the root bark with O3, or would that just kill the mold and still leave the toxins behind? Im in the process of drying it out in the sun with wishful thinking that it will kill some of the mold and what not. Any thoughts?

If it's moldy don't use it. Mold has toxic chemicals in it.

Can I try to scrub it off with brush? or just trash it?

I believe it is unlikely that a solvent would pull the toxic mold compounds. Perhaps first give it a good hour long simmer with ample vinegar, then follow thru with Cyb's salt tek. Just don't overheat the based solution when adding the solvent - this may provide a lower yield, but would help to avoid pulling anything else but the spice. Hopefully someone else will share some thoughts. O3 wouldn't be as effective as a long simmer - just remember to use adequate water. Else as Global suggests - toss it.

Thank you for the suggestion. I will definitely have to try this. Out of newbie curiosity, Why would the yield be lower when the based solution is overheated? Is it because freebase will break down from too much heat? And would it just be better to use the bark for a brew instead? I figure instead of extracting and concentrating some kind of poison down, why not just cook it? Ive read that molds usually cant survive the stomach acid and that if the food is thick that the mold cant penetrate very easily. I feel as if I could take a metal wire brush and brush every piece of bark under cold water and then do the boil and all that. Is this a possibility? or am i just trying to hard? I really don't want to waste this bark since it took some time and energy to process it all down. Thanks!

This is pretty interesting.
http://www.fao.org/docrep/x5036e/x5036e0q.htm

(Other mycotoxins which are like aflatoxin and have a lactone grouping in the molecule can be similarly destroyed by alkaline condition using ammonia, sodium hydroxide and sodium bicarbonate. These toxins are patulin, penicillin acid, citreoviridin, citrinin, cyclochlorotin, ochratoxin A, rubratoxin, trichothecenes and zearalenone.

In the end it is of course up to you. But I'm with Global in the toss it way of thinking.

Many kinds of mold can be very harmful, especially on the respiratory system. Unless I could test my final product to be sure it was 100% mold free. I wouldn't vape it.

Quoted for good advice.

Don't risk your health, if its moldy, toss it.

There's no way of knowing if any measures you take to make it safe to consume work, or remove/inactivate the toxins. Unless you have access to very expensive lab grade analysis equipment and the means to test your product.

Also, its generally a good practice, if using the false protection of implying your actions are a third party (swim), to stay in that context. Switching back and forth bewteen I, and swim is just confusing, and doesn't help communicate your question, or provide any kind of legal protection.

Best to just keep it first person, and not bother with swim, animal names, etc. Makes it easier for others to understand what your are trying to communicate, and in the end it doesn't protect you, so most people find the practice quite pointless, and counterproductive.

Thank you for the warnings. Sorry about the swim and stuff. I'm still new to the whole forum and can see why using swim is a hassle. I intend to not use third party references anymore. I will however let this one sit a while as I weigh out the risks. I don't want to sound stupid or stubborn but it was only a small amount and I caught it before it really started to grow. Since bark is dense I figure it should be safe to scrub off since it would mostly be surface propagation instead of deep colonization like what you see with bread and soft fruits. Well anyways...I will take heed to your warnings and am very thankful to get straight forward answers from this forum. Thank you for your responses!

Don't worry about it. And don't apologize either, you didn't do anything wrong .

Most people (myself included) used the title of swim at one point or another. Eventually we slipped up and switched over to using I when making incriminating statements, and realized the futility of it all. Then you learn there's no legal protection offered by using it and its discarded from your vocabulary.

Just be safe if you do decide to try and slavage the bark. If you choose to use visual inspection as a determination of contamination, perhaps get a microscope or magnifying glass to be able to make a better determination of if you think its not contaminated.

Good luck, and welcome to the nexus by the way

Dang that's a good idea. I've been thinking about ordering a microscope for a while now...I might just do it. A magnifying glass would be enough huh? I'll have to try that. Thanks for the suggestions. This forums pretty info filled and quick replying with good answers. Pretty stoked to be some what involved.

Morning all, glad to be a new member in the community. I am a relative novice in the field of freelance alchemy, having only around 10 STB extractions under my belt. After a series of 3 MHRB freeze/thaws, I noticed some white material had formed on the bottom of the jar.

The duration of time between pulling out of the freezer and noticing the white stuff was about 3 days.

1) Stupid question: Are we sure it's mold?

2) If so, would the mold get trapped in the naphtha, and thus get extracted?

I understand that mold has been addressed here already, just wanted to get a more specific answer to my situation.

Thanks and happy journeys!

Hi... after finding mold on my most recent harvest of ACR bark, I did some research before deciding to dump. I know your questions importance has long passed, but since this thread is the first thing that popped up on a Google search about mold on ACR bark, I figured it was worth throwing in some info I found and answering your questions.

1) not a stupid question... but, yes, it is mold. Or, At least, the dangers posed by mild make it worth going with "yes, it is mold."

2) this part is what inspired me to answer because it's the question I was asking... 'assuming the mold holds dangerous compounds, would those compounds be extracted through my tech?' ... the answer is, again, yes.. or, at least, worth assuming it will.
Without identifying the mold species, you can't begin to find research on the compounds present in it, and there are Many Many micotoxins (ergot for example) present in Many mold species that are Alkaloids. These alkaloids would be extracted through STB or A/B techs, pulled with non polar solvents, and likely trapped between crystals during freeze precipitation.

There was also some talk about the mold being superficial because it wasn't present for long (I'm paraphrasing) and being able to clean it off, so I just wanted to mention that molds (again, we don't know the species so I'm being general) can grow very quickly, and most (if not all) establish their mycelium before fruiting. If you see fuzzy mold, that's likely its fruiting body, and it's safest to assume that the mycelium is well colonized throughout the substrate (your rb harvest) and that any compounds present in the fruiting body could be present in the mycelium as well.

Travel safely friends!