ultraskaņas ekstrakcija – Daudzpusīgs un izmantojams jebkuram botāniskajam materiālam

Can I use my probe-type ultrasonicator for cannabis and psilocybin extraction? The answer is: Yes! You can use your ultrasonicator for numerous different raw materials to produce high-quality extracts. The beauty of the ultrasonic extraction technique lies in its compatibility with virtually any botanical raw material and solvent. Therefore, ultrasonic extraction gives high yields within short process times for both, polar and non-polar molecules.

Extraction of Polar and Non-Polar Molecules with Ultrasound

The degree of extractability of bioactive compounds is determined by various factors such as the surrounding cellular structures or the polarity of the target molecule.
„Like Dissolves Like“
The solubility at molecular level can be differentiated generally into two different categories: polar and non-polar.
Polar molecules have positively + and negatively – charged ends. Non-polar molecules have almost no charge (zero charge) or the charge is balanced. Solvents range in these categories and can be e.g., heavily, medium or low polar or non-polar.
As the phrase „Like Dissolves Like“ hints, molecules dissolve best in a solvent with the same polarity.
Polar solvents will dissolve polar compounds. Non-polar solvents dissolve non-polar compounds. Depending in the polarity of the botanical compound, a suitable solvent with high dissolving capacity must be chosen.

Lipids and fats are non-polar molecules. Phytochemicals such as the major cannabinoids (CBD, THC), terpenes, tocopherols, chlorophyll A and carotenoids are such non-polar molecules. Aqueous molecules such as psilocybin, anthocyanins, most alkaloids, chlorophyll B, vitamin C, and B vitamins are types of polar molecules.
This means that you should choose different solvents for cannabis and psilocybin extraction, since cannabinoid molecules are nonpolar, while psilocybin molecules are polar. Accordingly, the polarity of the solvent matters. Polar molecules such as the phytochemical psilocybin dissolve best in polar solvents. Prominent polar solvents are e.g. water or methanol. Non-polar molecules, on the other hand, dissolve best in non-polar solvents such as hexane or toluene.

Ultrasound Extraction of Any Phytochemical Choosing the Ideal Solvent

The advantage of the ultrasonic extractor is its compatibility with almost any solvent type. You can use an ultrasound extraction system with polar and non-polar solvents.
Some raw materials such as vital mushrooms often benefit from a two-stage extraction process, where ultrasonic extraction is performed successively with a polar and non-polar solvent. Such a two-stage extraction releases both, the polar and non-polar molecule types.

Water is a polar solvent; other polar solvents include acetone, acetonitrile, dimethylformamide (DMF), dimelthylsulfoxide (DMSO), isopropanol, and methanol.
Note: Although water is technically a solvent, water-based extraction is often termed in layman terms as a solvent-free extraction.
Ethanol, acetone, dichloromethane etc. are categorized as intermediate polar, whilst n-hexane, ether, chloroform, toluene, etc. are nonpolar.

Etanola – the Versatile Solvent for Botanical Extraction

Ethanol, a heavily used solvent for botanical extraction, is a medium polar solvent. This means, ethanol has polar and non-polar extraction properties. Having polar and non-polar extraction capacities, makes ethanol an ideal solvent for broad-spectrum extracts as often produced from botanicals such as hemp, cannabis, and other herbs, where a variety of different phytochemicals are extracted in order to obtain the so-called entourage effect. The entourage effect describes the effect of various bioactive compounds in combination, which results in a significantly more pronounced health-promoting effects. For instance, a broad-spectrum hemp extract contains various cannabinoids such as cannabidiol (CBD), cannabigerol (CBG), cannabinol (CBN), cannabichromene (CBC), terpenes, terpenoids, alkaloids and other phytochemicals, which work in combination and enforce the beneficial effects of the extracted in a holistic way.

Simple Switch between Botanical Materials

The change between batches of various botanicals raw materials is simple and quickly done.
For ultrasonic batch extraction, simply prepare your slurry consisting of (dried) macerated plant material, e.g. hemp in ethanol. Insert the ultrasonic probe (aka sonotrode) into the vessel and sonicate for the determined time. After sonication, remove the ultrasonic probe from the batch. Cleaning of the ultrasonicator is simple and takes only a minute: Wipe down the sonotrode to remove plant particulates, then use the ultrasonicator’s CIP (clean-in-place) feature. Insert the sonotrode in a beaker with water, switch the unit on and let run the device for 20-30 sec. Thereby, the ultrasonic probe cleans itself.
Now, you are ready to run the next batch for the extraction of another botanical such as psilocybin in water.
Similarly, ultrasonic inline systems equipped with flow cell are cleaned via CIP mechanism. Feeding the flow cell with water whilst running the ultrasound is mostly sufficient for cleaning. Of course, you can add a little amount of cleaning agents (e.g., to facilitate the removal of oils).
Ultrasonic extractors are universally usable for any kind of bioactive compounds and their polarity-wise suitable solvent.

Zemāk redzamajā tabulā ir sniegta norāde par mūsu ultrasonikatoru aptuveno apstrādes jaudu: