10-05-03 16:36
No 462807
heh Hi!
How do you choose which is the best extraction method for your starting plant material?
Do Seeds and barks (woody) OR soft material generally have prefered methods?
A nice fleshy soft green plant is ideal. isn't it?
I want to work with fennel! A plant that smells like licorish and has my name written all over it.
With fennel, even the main stem is nice and soft, it also has big soft bulbs. (as bad as that sounds)
I am going to collect and probably grow (it aint hard-it would grow on a rebound-ace tennis court
) fennel when I have time and I would like to extract all the volatile oils. I'm unsure of what extraction method to choose, steam distilling or solvent extraction since I have solubility data?
Should it bee dried beforehand?
Here's some info from the merck (that some top-bee gave me)...
Monograph number: Title: Fennel . Additional name(s): Large fennel ; sweet fennel Literature references: Dried, ripe fruit of cultivated varieties of Foeniculum vulgare Mill., Umbelliferae. Habit. Southern Europe, Western Asia, widely cultivated. Contains 3-4% volatile oil.
Title: Oil of Fennel . Literature references: Volatile oil from the dried fruit of Foeniculum vulgare Mill., Umbelliferae. Also from the sweet fennel plant (var. dulce ). Constit. 50-60% anethole, approximately 20% fenchone, pinene, limonene, dipentene, phellandrene. Properties: Colorless or pale yellow liquid; odor and taste of fennel. d 25 25 0.953-0.973 . alpha D 25 +12degrees to +24degrees . n D 20 1.5280-1.5380 . Slight ly sol in water; sol in 1 vol 90% or in 8 vols 80% alcohol; very sol in chloroform, ether. Keep well closed, cool and protected from light. Density: d 25 25 0.953- Refraction index: n D 20 1.5280- Rotation: +12degrees to +24 USE: To cover taste of unpleasant medicines. THERAP CAT: Carminative.
It's also said to contain anise, that's what led me to it when I saw the word anise at the Hive.
But in the merck Index monograph for oil of fennel, no reference is made to this (However in the anise record, a reference is made to fennel oddly enough), so I don't think it contains much of this, I could bee wrong-this isn't important to me, because I'm interested in all the constituents of Oil of Fennel.
You don't need 2 Bee High to follow the goings-on @The-Hive--Just Addikted!
(Hive Addict)
10-05-03 19:17
No 462845
I should imagine working with dried materials to be nearly always preferable, as removing the water content simplifies the extraction method immensely, and minimizes emulsion problems. However, drying fennel bulbs may take some time. Furthermore, I am uncertain of the stability of the oils themselves while drying, and yields may decrease if too much time passes. I cannot see it being a significant problem though, as I'd be inclined to believe the oil to be quite stable provided the plant does not decompose in the process. This would no doubt lead to enzymatic degradation of the oil.
100% Canadian Bullshit
(Stranger)
10-05-03 19:26
No 462852
Easiest is to macerate well add lots of water and steam distill the volatiles. You may want to basify first. Try a little test batch in a flask. I used to steam out cresol from plants and if you want very much you will need a big drum as a boiler. After that fractionate the oils or otherwise extract according to their properties.
(Hive Bee)
10-05-03 20:47
No 462859
paranoid
I do have time to spare on it, I'm not sure if it will degrade but the UV light might harm it.
It does say it can bee extracted from dry fruit, but maybee they had a special drying method?
See...I won't bee able to use this special drying method on a whole trailer load.
Literature references: Volatile oil from the dried fruit of Foeniculum vulgare Mill., Umbelliferae. Also from the sweet fennel plant (var. dulce ). Properties: Colorless or pale yellow liquid; odor Keep well closed, cool and protected from light.
bio
Yes, I think macerating it would bee a great first step whatever is done next.
did you actually mean steam distilling it or ordinary distillation by just boiling the macerated material?
Well, the fractioning might definetly bee waiting after Oil of Fennel is extracted, but I'd like litres of the oil, say 1 gallon in american terms, this would bee a good result.
Filling up a drum is very do-able. But the blender will bee in constant use for a few monthes that's all!
You don't need 2 Bee High to follow the goings-on @The-Hive--Just Addikted!
(Hive Addict)
10-05-03 23:54
No 462912
I did a quick little search on the drying of fennel, and a couple of sites recommended against it as it loses flavour, and hence for our purposes probably the desired oils. I think bio is on the right track with steam distillation, probably similar in fashion to the methods to extract oils from nutmeg and mace (although the vegetative material in question is quite quite more fragile in fennel). Never tried it myself though, so I cannot comment on how well it would work with fennel. Probably fairly well in large batches. Better plan that garden for next year early!
http://www.island.wsu.edu/CROPS/FENNEL.h
This link is a generic gardener's link, but gives the general thrust of growing and drying fennel.
100% Canadian Bullshit
(Stranger)
10-06-03 08:22
No 462980
Yes, until no more oil comes over. You will need to add water as you distill because it takes a lot. Add enough salt in the receiver to make a saturated solution when full. Steam immediately after maceration and harvest to avoid enzymatic destruction and oxidation. Do a test batch in a 3 or 5 liter flask so you can see what is going on. Don't fill more than half full and boil HARD. By the way youre going to need one BIG blender to fill that drum
