tsc89 - 12-3-2016 at 10:00
I posted in the other forum about isolating avocatin B, a lipid, found in avocado seeds and in laboratory testing killed leukemic stem cells while
leaving normal cells intact. My question though was how one could isolate the compound, and although it is up in the air whether it will ever be
used, I would like to see how it would be possible to isolate it.
Tsjerk - 12-3-2016 at 10:49
It depends on how pure you want your lipid and the equipment you have available. The crude lipid extraction is doable for the average home-chemist,
but the chromatography to get pure avocatin and especially the determination of the fraction that actually contains your lipid could become a bit
problematic in a garage setting. It would be possible I guess to determine a fraction (TLC?) if you could get your hands on a standard.
http://www.cyberlipid.org/extract/extr0002.htm
alking - 19-3-2016 at 06:36
A simple crude extract could be made by doing a non polar extraction, filtration, and evaporating it down. Just be sure you have *fully* evaporated
your solvent of course or you may be introducing more health issues than you're solving. There is probably some type of wash you could do after that
to further purify it, but I don't know what exactly the extract would contain to say. As Tsjerk said though you will not get an isolation without
chromatography, which is not difficult, but identifying the correct fraction is where the trouble lies.
You could also do a simple enthonlic extraction and make a tincture or syrup/paste if you're concerned about the inability to fully evaporate your
solvent, that is of course going to pull a lot more gunk than a non polar solvent though. I'd recommend something like hexane for a non-polar solvent,
or maybe you could even try a butane extraction like they do to make hash oil, but I'd be concerned about purity of the butane myself.
[Edited on 19-3-2016 by alking]