[pantone159]

Mark Kness - What about using 160 proof grain alcohol as in vodka?

That would probably be fine.  Less water is better, you usually don't want anything that dissolves in water.  But 160 proof is pretty strong.

[joeflsts]

Texas does have stupid glassware laws.  If I ever speak of a 'flask', that is a hypothetical comment.  I really would mean a beaker that is shaped like a flask.  

Yes - Texas' glassware laws are very strange....

Joe

[Pelle]

Holy s#*$! You're not even allowed to have glassware?

Sounds pretty bigbrotherish and like a hindrance of development to me. This world is really taking a turn I don't like. I guess you have to be security checked and ISO-certified to turn on the coffe machine soon...but that's another discussion.

FFS

[science2000]

billnotgatez
science2000 – The solvents you mention might make the extracts toxic which I believe is not the goal of essential oil extraction for human utilization.

If I ever extract something, it's just for the sake of having cool extracts. Like, in organic II lab we isolated caffeine from coffee, and it' formed interesting little crystals. Acetone is polar aprotic and alcohol is polar protic, so these solvents are very different. Acetone seems to be used for alots of things.

[pantone159]

Thanks for the suggestions, btw.  I will keep these in mind for future experiments.

Two examples I didn't mention before, that might be interesting:
- Extracting nepetalactone from catnip.  (This might violate forum rules, at least for cats.)

- Extracting capsaicin from peppers.  (This might be dangerous.  SEVERE irritant!!)
These links have some info:
http://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/motm/chilli/
http://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/motm/chilli/fun.htm

The NEXT natural products extraction I plan to do, in any case, is DNA.

[pantone159]

BTW - Is there any standard reference that lists the composition of various natural oils/products?

I.e. if I wanted find out what is in nutmeg, where would I want to look first?

[joeflsts]

BTW - Is there any standard reference that lists the composition of various natural oils/products?

I.e. if I wanted find out what is in nutmeg, where would I want to look first?

Not exactly what you asked for but this is interesting reading:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nutmeg

[pantone159]

Thanks.  Wikipedia is actually a pretty good source for this kind of information.

I have decided that the first part of this project is a 'library research' part where I try and look up what chemicals are in what spices and learn something about then.  Only later will I try and do any lab stuff.  Wikipedia is proving very useful in this.

mike - Do you have any more details on how to extract eugenol from cloves?

[James Gore]

I did the extration of eugenol in uni not too long ago, for quite a while my lab book 'smelled of christmas' from where i collected the stray ground cloves on a page, if you want i can send you the lab manual for that experiment, the file will be a pdf.
I'm James by the way, 21 yr old 1st year chemistry student at Birmingham uni, hey all.

[joeflsts]

I did the extration of eugenol in uni not too long ago, for quite a while my lab book 'smelled of christmas' from where i collected the stray ground cloves on a page, if you want i can send you the lab manual for that experiment, the file will be a pdf.
I'm James by the way, 21 yr old 1st year chemistry student at Birmingham uni, hey all.

James, welcome... If you wouldn't object I would like to have a copy of this as well.

Thanks,
Joe

[pantone159]

I did the extration of eugenol in uni not too long ago, for quite a while my lab book 'smelled of christmas' from where i collected the stray ground cloves on a page, if you want i can send you the lab manual for that experiment, the file will be a pdf.
I'm James by the way, 21 yr old 1st year chemistry student at Birmingham uni, hey all.

Hello there, welcome...  I'd be interested in the manual.

[Pelle]

Mark Kness: Steam distillation would be the way to go. Oil of Clove is composed to large extent of eugenol. If you can't get real lab glassware, improvise. The temperature won't be very high because it's steam distillation, so many things can be used.

I'm sorry if I'm yacking too much about steam distillation.

[James Gore]

Anyone who wants a copy of the lab manual just send me an e-mail (james_gore1984@hotmail.com), by the way my account is down at the moment so you might not get it until tomorrow.

[billnotgatez]

I was recently reading about aroma therapy and massage therapy. In both they use essential oils which are sometimes mixed with base oils. In many cases they say that the oils are created via cold pressing rather than a heated process. I assume that they feel that heating will reduce the properties of the essential oils. The effect would be similar to an egg white turning from sort of clear liquid to a sort of white solid. Of course, what goes on in egg cooking involves a protein rather than oil. Many of the essential oils had warnings as follows:
Do not use if pregnant.
Do not expose yourself to UV light (sunlight) after application.
Do not use on sensitive skin.
Do a very small test on skin 24 hours to full use.

One wonders if the cold pressing is also done to make sure that you get not only the oils but also the other juices in the plant. That would give you all the liquid parts plus any dissolved solids. That way you get the synergistic effect of all of the compounds in the juice and not just one single constituent.

The reading source I used was from Readers Digest. It kept me occupied while waiting for a ride.

[xiankai]

The reading source I used was from Readers Digest. It kept me occupied while waiting for a ride.

which edition? i want to read it too, sounds interesting