Boiling cacti down to a solid

I have about 3 feet of fresh San Pedro and am planning to do a crude extraction by simply boiling down the material with water and lemon juice.

I have read many reports of this being an easy and effective method of preparation for San Pedro, but I'm still concerned about one thing. In some reports the extract is boiled down to a small amount of liquid and drank as a shot, whereas other reports have boiled the extract down until all liquid had evaporated and they were left with a resinous goo that could be rolled into balls and swallowed like a pill.

The latter method sounds more attractive to me, but I was wondering if boiling the extract down to this concentration would affect alkaloid content, potency etc. Any help is appreciated!

ANC come in with your waft's of knowledge~!

From Erowid link http://www.erowid.org/plants/cacti/cacti_info2.shtml

Turn on the heat and bring to a boil. (The Dictionary of Alkaloids lists the melting point of latent mescaline (that is, un-extracted mescaline) as 35 degrees C and the boiling point is around 180 degrees C). So, keep the pot boiling at a temperature below 180 degrees C.

In my experience mescaline is quite resilient to high temps. I wouldn't be too worried about losing potency with cooking.

Would an Isopropyl or other alchohol extraction be more efficient? It's just as easy, but it takes a series of days to complete the several pulls that are required and I'm not a patient person so boiling for 6 or so hours is still looking like the best idea to me.

pure mescaline trip is different than a trip with all the other alkaloids. i wouldnt say one is better than the other. theyre both different and very enjoyable. id go with the resin as opposed to the shot because cactus taste like SHITHOaheirahoithreoiaht bleh. be careful with your heat. i wouldnt even boil. just simmer. best of luck!

Yeah the first time I came across San Pedro I put a piece in my mouth to see if It would be possible to just eat it.....it's honestly the worst thing I've ever had in my life. I would drink robotussin by the gallon before I ate a footlong piece of cacti.

I don't like the resin method, I prefer going the basify and polar extraction route.

theres the pocket of gold from ANC....

so you prefer a mescaline pull to the resin?

any significant reason? no nausea ? no having to eat cactus....? lol

well there is also acccurate doseing... a single plateu rather than waves, etc...

JediTangerine said:

pure mescaline trip is different than a trip with all the other alkaloids. i wouldnt say one is better than the other. theyre both different and very enjoyable. id go with the resin as opposed to the shot because cactus taste like SHITHOaheirahoithreoiaht bleh. be careful with your heat. i wouldnt even boil. just simmer. best of luck!

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It doesn't taste that bad... You make it sound like sucking on a dog turd. I'm use to drinking fresh vegetable juice and such a lot so maybe that why I don't mind the taste. I got 4 SP's out back probably going to chop two in half and make my shaman juice!

46&2 said:

It doesn't taste that bad... You make it sound like sucking on a dog turd. I'm use to drinking fresh vegetable juice and such a lot so maybe that why I don't mind the taste. I got 4 SP's out back probably going to chop two in half and make my shaman juice!

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dont be ridiculous. we should take a poll haha

Many people simply peel the waxy layer off, cut off the white bits and eat the dark green slices like cucumber.
The indians says people with pure hearts don't taste the bitterness.

ANC is absolutly right - extraction is really the only way to get that golden mescaline effect - it is like being born into glorious sunshine - jnew, refreshing and ancient.

I don't think he's really exaggerating about the taste lol, but maybe I'm just not very pure of heart. ANC, you say you like to do a polar extraction of the boiled down substance. What solvent do you use, and what solvents would also work? I'd like to be able to eat it straight like a true Peruvian shaman, but I think I'm just to accustomed to food that doesn't taste like shit.

xyleen or limolene for the faint of heart

to be honest with you guys, my first 2 experiences with cactus were terrible for my taste buds. i used wayy too much lemon juice the first time and the second time (the best trip out of all), i had a red party cup 3/4 filled with powdered cactus. chased the powder down with water (beautiful trip). cringe every time i think back on both times

AND i could never look at cactus cooler the same way again :[

The problem with eating dried cactus is evident when you add some water to some powder.... it rehydrates and swells up.

I can't imagine eating a solo cup full of cactus powder. Ive eaten saguaro cacti inner flesh. The alkaloid content is much higher (not mescaline but other alkaloids) and it only requires you to eat 2 grams or so, but it tastes much worse than San Pedro. The trip is interesting though. It pretty much puts you in a trance state and when you close your eyes you drift off into an extremely lucid dream from which you can open your eyes at any point and then return by closing them again.