I've been looking at House's Mescaline Crude Extraction Tek, and I'm wondering if it would be possible to extract the cactus skins (after the 3x freeze-thaw) in water in a microwave, for, say, 10 minutes, as opposed to boiling. Someone in this thread claimed that, for a 10 minute spin in the microwave, in alcohol, +90% extraction was totally possible.

Is there any truth to this, and if so, could it work with fresh material, if it was not agitated (as in House's tek)? I imagine adding a few drops of vinegar or lemon juice might help a little.

My hope would be a short way to get the alkaloids into water solution w/ minimal snot, which could then be boiled down, or drunk as-is.

Blessings
~ND

I haven't done a mesc extraction yet, but can vouch for the efficacy of microwave assisted extractions (MAEs). It was recently found that 40mins of microwave boils of whole rue seeds (after one freeze/thaw) could produce solid extraction returns when compared to the 4.5 hours of boiling crushed seeds via the Tao of Rue.

Harmalas extraction-syrian rue

I think it is at least worth trying. Please post your results, I would love to follow this.

3x ten minute microwave boils pooled should yield good results. I, personally, prefer the old school method (I consider myself something of a purist) but have got good results when I tried nuking rue (not quite as good as the purist method, but not bad at all).

The one thing I don't like about microwave boiling is the potential for superheating. Because the plant matter is heated directly by EM radiation (rather than by convection), there is the possibility that the plant cells will reach temps much higher than the boiling point of the water in which they are heated (although the water content of the cells will largely negate this effect). Given mesc is reasonably thermally stable (especially as an acid salt), nuke boiling should be a viable option.

I must point out that I'm not advocating microwave extraction (like I said... purist) but I do like the idea of faster cooking times (not to mention the EM radiation applied should assist cell lysing, which means the freeze/thaw cycle becomes less important).

Some microwaves provide an actual stepping down of power instead of on/off to simulate reduced power (Panasonic Inverter microwave ovens). Lab microwaves have the same advantage. It reduces the chance of 'hot spots' ruining the extraction.

If you were *really* a purist, you'd work over a wood fire.

Who says I don't?

Ok, most if the time I do my extracts in the shed using lab quality methods and equipment, but sometimes I like to go out into the bush, cut some fresh phalaris or wattle root and cook it up in the true old school fashion (homemade copper pot on a wood fire with acid made from ground up ants). It makes me feel really at one with the universe (especially when I've got a pocket full of a LSD )

I have great respect for you, sir. It's great to get a taste of the ancient traditions-- and still have fun.

The way I see it, the ancients had 2 priorities: survival and enjoying life. The modern world has put so much in between these two pursuits. Sometimes you have to go back to basics.

As much as I appreciate the 'old ways,' given my life circumstances, they're really not a problem.

Would putting some boiling stones or boiling sticks in the solution help avoid superheating?

My primary hope is that the microwave method would help avoid the production of all that nasty cactus snot that's so hard to get down. By my estimate, it should work, because the microwave doesn't agitate the material much (which was House's great insight). You should end up with a thin, greenish water with a crude, full-spectrum extract. Much easier to boil down, or toss-n-wash.

Blessings
~ND

No, boiling chips won't help because the superheating is intracellular. I wouldn't worry about it too much though.

As for the cactus junk, the trick is (as it so often is) filtration. Often slow using ghetto techniques, but a good water aspirator and decent Büchner funnel can by bought for about 30 bucks and they'll make quick work of that cactus goop.