I would be interested in your teqniques, or a review of what I am proposing.
I would dry, pre-grind, and presoak/rehydrate herbs or mushroom with EtOH/H20 at a 1:5 W/V ratio. Then microwave exposure to fracture cells. I don't want to damage phytochemicals by over heating. I was thinking that a series of shorter microwave exposures may be appropriate. Probably would limit each cycle to the point where the EtOH/H20 menstruum just starts to boil. I would then repeat for number of cycles (TBD). Following MAE I would place the herb/menstruum in storage for brief maceration (just a couple of days) The MAE should have already done a great deal to extract. Comments welcome Please!
Addition of your suggestion, I think it is better to increase the volume of solvent and increase the ratio of ethanol to water. It is better to use methanol instead of ethanol. Another point, maceration for a couple of days is too much, it may affect and change the structure of phytochemicals.
typically for most herbs the ratio I is 1 part herb (weight) to 5 parts menstruum (volume). The percentage EtOH C2H60 for straight maceration or percolation techniques varies with the herbs but ranges from 40-80%, with 50% being typical. I only use Isopropyl C3H80f or external liniments. I have not used methanol CH3OH for any purpose. The extracts I am making have the ethanol remaining, so methanol is not a choice for me. I am trying to optimize ethanol/water extraction beyond classic maceration or percolation techniques. MAE hopefully will assist with better extraction and fast as well.
Can you provide any guidance on time to expose herbs to microwave energ?
the microwave techinque is used to break down the cell of herbs or mushroom leading to better extraction. drying and grinding break down some, but microwave energy really breaks down those cellls o expose the phytochemicals to the solvent. I generally use the filtered sovent mixture as medicine. However there are ways to remove the solvent, leaving the concentrated chemical. The most simple way is extraction, but there are many more
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