-bijanto-
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Posts posted by -bijanto-
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I've read on the Web, that there are at least three extraction methods:
- Distillation/Extraction (soxhlet extractors)
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Cold percolation
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Agitation/Distillation
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Supercritical CO2 Extraction
They write that Coldfinger is a 'modified soxhlet extractor', in that it makes possible to distill at much lower temperatures and to recycle the solvent.
[ 02. August 2005, 08:13: Message edited by: -bijanto- ]
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Thanks dracos, that name leads me to their website. They actually are located in NSW and offer discrete services. Enviro extractor is a kind of steam distilator which is especially good for extracting volatile oil I think.
Eden Labs (the patent owner of Coldfinger extractor) said they doen't have distributor in Aussie yet, but they can deliver the unit directly for additional $US 130 international charge.
Most of home-scale medicinal herbalists in my area still offers traditional forms of herbal medicines, like dried, powdered herbs or bottled herb juice, and those extractor equipments are mostly owned by giant pharmaceutical companies only.
I'm looking for a small medicinal herb extractor that can be used to produce broad-spectrum extracts, i.e. those closely resembling the herb in it's whole form, considering there are lipophilic (oil soluble compounds) and lipophobic (water soluble compounds) isolates etc that must be treated differently.
Here I have dried yohimbe bark chips and want to make capsules containing bark extract instead of bark powder. What extraction method(s) or extractors best used?
[ 02. August 2005, 07:44: Message edited by: -bijanto- ]
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T, how long did it start flower after being planted from seeds?
[ 30. July 2005, 14:29: Message edited by: -bijanto- ]
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I ordered 6 live damiana plants from Richters about 2 years ago but then they said they had crop failure so they returned my money back. Since then, they've never had any more stock.
Another attempt to get live damiana plant was 3 years ago when I saw an on-line nursery based on Germany called "Ruehlemann's", who sent my orders twice, but none of them survived the travel.
So another guy from Mexico contacted me last year and agree with my offer to swap my seeds with some damiana seeds or plants, but later he said that he could not get that plants for me.
Last month, an ethnobotanical plant collector who lives in another city in Mexico contacted me for some seeds and I asked him if he got some damiana seeds or plants and he said yes. So I will wait and see.
Turnera ulmifolia, yes it can be found growing wild in Java, too.
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Bravo! What medium are you using, ashoka?
Mine is already 6 months and 1 week and only reach this size:
I use 1 part of garden soil, 1 part of leaf compost and 1/8 part of sphagnum moss to make sure the pH stays acidic.
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Great, I'll search for those maufacturers.
Thank's a lot, T.
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I've found this extractor products on the Web:
I wonder if anyone here knows anything about Coldfinger herbal extractor? I badly want to have one these products, but still need any opinion from you guys. Where in Australia (especially in Melbourne) to find a herbal extractor unit at a relatively low cost, just for small-scale purposes that can be done at home? I'm going to Melbourne next month and would love to search for this kind of product.
[ 02. August 2005, 07:57: Message edited by: -bijanto- ]
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quote:
you'll be watchin them play games and laugh at their own private jokes and have defined likes dilikes and personality traits and youll suddnely get a headrush whne you remmeber that you responsible for creating them! and they've only been born 18 months. well it amazes me nonstop anyways..
What a great feeling, isnt it? Makes me sometimes wonder that they might be some kind of angels that God has given us in order to let us learn or to change. It's amazing how sensitive they are, and how human they are, more human than most adults.
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Yes it could be Catha edulis, BUT:
- Khat is popular in East African countries like Somalia, Ethiopia, & their neighbouring countries. Though Indonesia has largest muslim population in South East Asia, I've never found any Indonesian who are aware of this plant, neither have been able to find khat leaves sold in any market in Indonesia.
- Dried khat leaves is not as potent as the fresh leaves, as the cathinone is converted to cathine when the leaves dry off. So the common way of storing khat leaves is by keeping the leaves fresh, like using banana leaves as a cover etc.
- Khat is popular in East African countries like Somalia, Ethiopia, & their neighbouring countries. Though Indonesia has largest muslim population in South East Asia, I've never found any Indonesian who are aware of this plant, neither have been able to find khat leaves sold in any market in Indonesia.
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I've arranged information from various resources into one note, hope it will be useful as one of your references
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There are at least 2 commercially important species of Cola that are known by the Yoruba people of Nigeria: nitida and acuminata. In Yoruba area of Nigeria, Cola nitida is known as 'gbanja', while Cola acuminata is known as 'abata'.
Cola nitida, characterized with nuts of two cotyledons (dicotyledonous) is, however, of much greater commercial importance since the seeds (the ‘gbanja’ colanuts) are in higher demand for local use and for export. Before the colonial period, it was brought from Ghana to Nigeria by long-distance traders via the Gonja kingdom, from which its name derives.
Cola acuminata (the ‘abata’ colanut) is characterized with more than two cotyledons, and may have six or more (McIlroy, 1963). It is indigenous to the Yoruba area, and up until today still has high social, religious and ceremonial values among the various tribes. Its involvement in trade at the moment is of local significance.
According to Yoruba's tradition, for a man's first marriage, his parents and extended family makes the arrangements, found the girl, and paid the bride-price. The bride-price was usually paid in two installments, the ijowun and the idana. The ijowun consisted of pepper, kolas, beer, wine, gin, cola, and honey. It was paid when the girl's parents accepted the man for their daughter, and it legally sealed the engagement. The second installment, the idana, included the same things as the ijowun plus some cloth wrappers.
Bride wealth served several important purposes. Legally, it was the most important factor to be settled in the event of a divorce: to divorce her husband, a woman must return his bride wealth. It represented the commitment to the marriage by both individuals and their families, and it was a safeguard against breaking that commitment. It kept the wife from cheating on or disrespecting her husband because it would have to be repaid for her to leave him. It also prevented the husband from mistreating his wife because he had made a large financial investment in her. Finally, the bride-price legally established the woman's husband as the father of her children. A proverb about this says, " One who does not own a cola tree cannot have its fruit "
The naming ceremony is an important affair among the Yorubas. It is an ancient practice that holds many purposes such as giving a child its name, welcoming the child into the community, congratulating the parents for such a happy and fortunate time (a divine blessing acknowledged), and making predictions for the child’s future.
The water is the first of many ceremonial items to be introduced to the child. The Yoruba people generally believe that “when they present certain materials to the child at the beginning of his life, he/she will make positive use and not negative use of them when he becomes an adult”. Water is used because it is very important to people. It’s use in the ceremony reflects the importance of the child to his/her family. After the child is sprinkled with water the elder whispers the child’s new name into its ear. Next, the elder dips his finger into the water and upon touching the child’s forehead he announces the new name to everyone present. The elder then turns to seven specially filled vessels. Within these vessels each ingredient constitutes a unique symbol in the ontological world of the Yorubas into which the child is being initiated.
The first vessel consists of red pepper of which the elder gives a small taste to the child. The pepper symbolizes that the child will be resolute and have command over the forces of nature. The pepper is then passed around for the entire assemblage to taste. After the pepper, the child tastes water, signifying purity of body and spirit (freedom from disease). Next, the elder offers a taste of salt which symbolizes the flavor of wisdom and intelligence of which it is wished that the child is divinely fed. Another view of the salt’s importance leans toward the importance of salt to any food for its palatability. This is used to correspond to the child’s generally perceived importance to the community. “When any person is said to be as salt to his people, it means he brings joy, happiness, and even sweetness where there is bitterness “. Following the salt, comes palm oil which is touched to the child’s lips, a wish for power and health like that of royalty. The child then tastes honey signifying for the child to be as sweet as honey to his/her community, to have happiness, and, most importantly, for him/her not to be ostracized by his/her people when the child has grown to adulthood. After honey, liquor or wine flavors the child’s lips for all the wealth and prosperity that the child will have.
Finally, the child is given a taste of cola nut, symbolic of a wish for the child’s good fortune. The parents, particularly the father, may add materials to the ceremony after the seven basic ingredients have been introduced to the child. Extra materials may include objects that symbolize the clan deity of the family. For example: “Ogun,” god of iron; the parent may require that a knife or sword be used in the ceremony. After the final item has been passed around to all guests the ritual is complete and the festivities begin. Feasting (brief ceremonial food list provided after this report), dancing, and rejoicing will last into the early hours of the next day.
The genus Cola belongs to the family Sterculiaceae and is one of the economically important genera of this family. According to Bodard (1962), the genus comprises about 90 species of which 50 have been described in West Africa , its centre of greatest diversity. In Nigeria , Cola nitida and Cola acuminata are the two main commercial species. Both species bear a striking resemblance to each other and are cultivated for their edible seeds (cola nuts).
The cultivation of cola in Nigeria started around 1900. Consequently large populations of C. nitida were introduced into the country from their area of natural occurrence in Ghana and Sierra Leone for experimental and commercial purposes. By 1960 the population of cola trees in Nigeria had risen to about 20 million, made up of predominantly C. nitida materials. The trees were highly heterogeneous and possessed extreme variability in yield as well as other commercial qualities.
Seeds of a large number of tropical tree species are reported recalcitrant (Roberts 1973) because they are very sensitive to desiccation. The seeds of the Cola spp. fall into this category as the cola nut can only be conserved for a short period (weeks to months), even under optimal moisture conditions, before losing its viability.
According to a research conducted by The International Board for Plant Genetic Resources (3), seed storage behaviour in Cola spp. is not entirely clear: the seeds are treated as recalcitrant (that is they are not dried) but, if they are recalcitrant, then they are some of the longest-lived recalcitrant species so far reported.
Seeds of Cola spp. can show considerable dormancy. Freshly harvested seeds of C. nitida take between 3 and 9 months to germinate whereas completely after-ripened seeds are reported to germinate immediately. After-ripening periods of between 3 months and 1 year are reported to be required to remove dormancy. The after-ripening treatments were carried out in moist environments (e.g. undried nuts in a polyethylene bag). Therefore the success of after-ripening treatments does not provide evidence of orthodox seed storage behaviour.
In freshly harvested seeds of Cola spp. the embryo is 1-1.5 mm long and lies at the deepest point of the basal furrows in the cotyledons which are firmly held together. When placed in contact with a moist medium the nut imbibes moisture but germination may not occur for some weeks or months: only after considerable delays do the embryos begin to develop. If the cotyledons are gently teased apart without damaging their contact with the embryo or the seeds are pre-soaked or the cotyledon tip removed then the embryo imbibes more rapidly and the delay to germination is reduced. Consequently for dormant seeds it is suggested that testa removal and cotyledon parting be practised.
Quite high temperatures are required for germination. A constant temperature of 30C has been reported as optimal. Although continuous exposure to 37C will eventually kill the seeds, warm stratification at 37C for 2 to 3 weeks with subsequent removal to a lower temperature can reduce the time taken by the seeds to germinate - possibly by increasing the embryo's imbibition rate? Diffuse sunlight or fluorescent light are promotory, but direct sunlight (in nursery sowings) can reduce germination. It is suggested that the seeds be tested for germination in moist sand or between moist paper towels at 30C, and recommended that attention be paid to keeping the germination test medium moist throughout the test.
References:
[ 09. June 2005, 13:08: Message edited by: -bijanto- ]
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Congratulations, and happy birthday Torsten.
Are you sure it's not Cola nitida?
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I think I tried to germinate one or two of these nuts without success. They might have been a bit old though.
That's right. It's a common practice for nutmeg farmers in Java to start sowing nutmeg seeds within 24 hours after being extracted from the fruits. Seed viability decreases rapidly. If you store it in dry place, more than often it will not be viable anymore after 3 days, despite of its hard shell.
A sign of a really ripe fruit, is when a part of the fruit surface begins to crack and through it you can see the seed covered with red aril. If a cracked fruit is allowed to hang on the tree for further 2-3 days, the cracking process will continue until it splits in half and finally the seed will drop naturally. The time when the fruit gets cracked is the best time to pick a seed for propagation, i.e. you will get the highest viability.
Of course, some other vegetative propagations can be done as fractalhead said.
[ 19. April 2005, 04:29: Message edited by: -bijanto- ]
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Strangebrew & Nabraxas,
Thank's heaps, I'm putting into a note of all the above great places/link.
Fortunatelly my mom's a Czech so I guess I won't be surprised with the food or the european atmosphere. It will be like 'deja vu' to me. When I was in Sydney for 2 weeks I felt like I was a new-born baby and time ran out so quickly, as if I'm sitting on Marilyn Monroe's sexy lap.
By the way, the essay question was something like: "give your suggestion on how to make a better relationships between indonesia-australia, in less than 500 words".
I guess I didn't write anything special on my essay, but my thoughts of this forum when I was writing had motivated me somewhat in giving a passion into the essay. I personally believe that we can make a better world by sharing our love on plants. However I didn't mention anything about plants on this forum, I just mentioned some actual issues such as terrorism and the earthquake/tsunami.
[ 13. April 2005, 12:44: Message edited by: -bijanto- ]
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I'm going to visit Melbourne on August, anyone here lives nearby?
I don't know what I'm gonna do there for ten weeks, except for studying english...anything interesting there to see while I'm free from the class room? Maybe a source of real kava-kava plant, a book store that sells complete collection of ethnobot books? Any botanical garden? Funky nurseries?
One of you guy (I think) wrote me a friendly letter, thank you..I just wanna say that I would really love to bring many ethnobot stuffs like Cola seeds, Nutmeg seeds/arils, Betel nuts, but I'm afraid I wouldn't dare to do that, firstly because I've heard how Aussie customs treat this matter, 2. because I look like a creature from 'the' bombings country, and 3. because the essay writing competition was held by your radio and the all-expense paid prize to study and stay there will be awarded personally by your ambassador David Ritchie... so I'm kinda hesitate to do anything that might be against them.
[ 08. April 2005, 22:15: Message edited by: -bijanto- ]
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Well maybe I'll chew the roots later, and let you all know what it tastes. However I never know the taste of a real kava, and the leaves doesn't smell like anything I know here, including the Cinnamomum burmanii. I like the smell of cinnamon leaf better.
I have noticed the shape of the leaf, especially the patterns of the veins. In the real kava, all veins begin from one point, unlike the veins of P. auritum.
Here, this is what makes me sure:
Comparison of the Real and False Sakau
From the above site you can see that the side veins of P. auritum do not start from one point, but from along the central vein. Besides, the shape of the real kava leaf is more like a perfect heart similar like that you see in playing cards. That perfect heart shape is also similar to that of Piper betel leaf IMO.
And..this morning I'm just back from the mountain after picking some fresh pranajiwa fruits. I will take their pictures. Could you tell me how to upload a picture to your picture gallery, Torsten? I will start a new topic special to introduce this plant to this forum later, thanks.
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Yes Prophet, what a pain! Torsten & Planthelper, after some googling around and reading all posts here, I'm not interested in smelling the roots anymore, as all those pictures have all the answers.
If planthelper or anyone else here would like to swap your kava cutting, I will likely to have some fresh "Euchresta horsfieldii" seeds soon. It is an aphrodisiac plants which grows naturally at cooler temps (higher altitide) of Java (so it might grow well in cooler part of Australia) and the seed contains cytisine alkaloid etc. The seed is used as decongestant, diuretic, expectorant, vasoconstrictor, emetic and aphrodisiac.
As Torsten wrote in his web page:
The quinolizidine alkaloid Cytisine occurrs in the seeds of Laburnum anagyroides (Laburnum), Anagyris spp, Baptisia spp, Cytisus spp, genista spp, Sophora spp and Thermopsis spp. It is a respiratory stimualnt, with a nicotnie like activity and is hallucinogenic. Highly toxic. The LD50 intraperitoneally in mice is 18mg/kg body weight. Poisoning occurrs often, especially in children and animals after ingesting plant parts, especially the attractive seeds of some of the leguminosae. Cytisine is teratogenic in rabbits and poultry and acts as a feeding deterrent to snails.
I would very much love to swap the Pranajiwa seeds with any of kava variety cutting. Private me if interested !!
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Prophet, both dried or fresh roots are used here, but mostly fresh.
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In Indonesia, a tea made of roots of the S. rhombifolia is a traditional medicine against gout and other pains caused by abnormally-high level of uric acid in the body.
Here's how they use it: take 5 plants, cut out the upper part and rinse the remaining roots. Boil in 2 glasses of water. After boiled, let it sit overnight and drink it the next morning with an empty stomach.
For more serious illness, the number of plants can be increased, but it must be of any odd number. Usually, 7 or 9 plants. I guess this is just a myth or something
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Are the leaves VERY aromatic? Like sassafras?
It is fragrant, yes...but I don't know how sassafras smells like. Here in my area we have another sp called "Piper betel" which is also aromatic, but the scent is totally different, I can't find the similarity. Anyway, don't you think all members of Piper genus are supposed to be aromatic?
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It appears that the 'veins'(said I wasn't no botanist) on the leaves are more rounded and curved on Methysticum, whereas yours are straight.As well, the edges of your leaves look somewhat ragged, whereas methysticum has smoothed edges and a slight 'dome' shape to the outer edge of the leaf.
Well I guess you're right. I'm just still hoping that my plant is more or less a variety of Piper methysticum.
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I got some rooted cuttings of this plant in October 2003, which was claimed by the sender as kava-kava "Piper methysticum". Now, it's growing like crazy, They seem to grow very quickly on any soil of my garden. They even have their roots break through the bottom of the pots and spread out horizontally as far as they can reach. Here's the link to the pictures of my plant:
I was very proud with this one (I show it to all friends who visit me)....but not until I found out that this plant might not be the real kava-kava (P. methysticum). If this is not the real kava, can anyone point me to a good source of kava cuttings?
I'll appreciate any comment, thanks!
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In that part of the country (where the tidal waves happened), life has been valued less for the last decades, due to the war against the separatist movements there. Schools were burnt to the ground, innocent villagers have to choose either to bend their kness under the violence of the military or the separatist fighters....we can add more to the list. And this warning system idea seems to be effective to reduce the human suffering problems in Aceh, at least until someone told them that the most dangerous violence is not the one spreaded out by the nature, but by the creators of the warning system itself.
Merry X-mas (a little late for that
) and happy new year!
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I don't know what those "winking eyes", "grinning" and "hanging-out tongue" mean, folks...but I've got a strange feeling that "something" is going on here. :confused:
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Hi everyone. I want to share my happiness here. These pictures were taken shortly after I pruned my M. speciosa tree (you can see the picture of its leaf clippings on the ground).
It's really a pleasure to see a four-centimeter plant has been growing to this size for about... 4 years, I guess. "Torsten, do you remember exactly when you sent me the plantlet?" I salute you who has done a noble thing to help a rare species survive.
By the way, I want to keep pruning this tree so it will not grow too tall. Any idea on how to do that, folks? I need to learn some pruning techniques here.
Here are the pictures:
The M. speciosa leaf clippings
[ 09. December 2004, 21:08: Message edited by: -bijanto- ]
Coldfinger Herbal Extractor Product in Australia
in Ethnobotany
Posted
Their web site says that we can heat the solvent in the Coldfinger at 140 degrees F(60°C).
The ethanol (alone) boils at 78.5°C, which I guess is lower than boiling points of many active phytochemicals, but there are some constituents that are soluble in alcohol, and others that are not. We should have a reference.