Phalaris extract

DeKorne says he discovered that you could make a smokable extract by accident, after leaving an extract intended for ayahuesque use out where the alcohol evaporated, leaving "a gummy tar" which he "on a sudden whim" decided to smoke. "I took one inhalation of this essence and found my mind immediately blasted into a cerebral hurricane of rapidly pulsing white light. Fortunately, I already knew what a DMT flash is like, so I was not totally taken by surprise."

His idea of extraction is this:

• Pulverize the grass clippings
• Add water, "enough... to make a pourable soup"
• Acidify to pH 5 or so
• (Optional) Simmer the acidified soup in a slow cooker overnight, not allowing the liquid to evaporate. ("It may take two or three such operations to get all of the alkaloids into solution")
• Strain the plant matter through cheesecloth, then through a paper coffee filter
• Add 10-15% of the mass of the solution in a "defatting solvent" such as methylene chloride, ether, chloroform, or naptha. [However, see this warning about naptha]
• Shake vigorously
• The crap will go into the solvent, leaving the good stuff in the water.
• Separate the water from the solvent.
• Add a base to the aqueous solution in small increments until the pH gets to about 9 or 10. This converts the alkaloids into their free base.
• Extract with 10% of the mass of the solution of an organic solvent four times, at one 24-hour and then three weekly intervals. The solvent layer will take on a darker tint, usually yellowish or reddish-brown. It will take almost a month to extract all of the alkaloids, and the solution should be shaken at least twice a day between extractions.
• Evaporate the solvent off from the combined extract fractions. You now have the alkaloids.

As a footnote, he tried similar stuff with Arundo donax and got some really nasty reactions from whatever other crud was in the plant. I'm gonna cross this one off of my list.

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