Hi all,

I wanted to start yet another thread about Thin Layer Chromatography, one in a sub-forum where new members can post questions.

TLConscious is starting an initiative to make kits available to the public.

Also, there's a good thread about the basics of TLC. (Go to section 2 of that thread)

TLC is an amazing tool. The open-source entheogen community could gain heaps of knowledge with TLC kits being available. Also, lives could be saved.

Please take the time to read up on it and ask any questions you may have. The opportunity for overwhelming advancement in plant substance identification is right here, we just gotta get the ball rolling and help TLconscious.

LOL and "no", I do not work for TLConscious, I'm just an avid entheo-botanist.


Be well, get testing,
Wap

OK, so here's a TLC question:

How long would you soak a sample of MHRB or Syrian rue in ethanol before dabbing it onto the plate?

thanks for clarifying that, up until now the only TLC I was familiar with was Tender Love and Care

As with any plant menstruum/tincture, the longer you soak (and the more you agitate) the more efficiently you will pull the actives into the solvent. Alternately, the longer you soak the more plant impurities you are likely to pull in addition to your actives.

Simple menstruum soaks tend to create a dark streak on the plate filled with fats, oils, chlorophyll and similar impurities making it hard to distinguish compounds. I highly recommend doing a simple drytek and basing out your material with lime or sodium carbonate and then simply making pulls as you would in any extraction. With this method you don't need a long soak time at all, a few minutes is plenty to pull the freebased alkaloids into the solvent for analysis. This will give you much much cleaner results on the plate.