Re: HYB: kitchen chemistry/pigment extraction

Mystery solved.

I had never seen such a lovely turquoise blue color in the extractant
before, & suspected it was a contaminant affecting pH.

No pH meter here, but a drop of white vinegar turned these lovely
turquoise colored extractions the same ol boring shade of reddish purple
all the others have been.

Not entirely sure why this most recent batch of extractions is higher
pH.  Limestone spring water from the tap could change, but not the
bottled isopropyl alcohol.  Maybe water remaining in the tissue from all
the water rinses was enough to tip pH of the alcohol.

Anyway, great fun to have little mysteries of chemistry mixed in with
the wonders of bloom season.

Re: solvents and varying chemistry of pigments:  From what I read last
winter, depending on the pigments, it isn't all one bucket or the other
(water vs oil), there were some differences related to something or
other that made certain types of alcohols dissolve some water soluble
pigments and not others.  Ditto for some types of oils and some types of
oil soluble pigments.

I think..

--
Linda Mann east Tennessee USA zone 7/8
East Tennessee Iris Society <http://www.korrnet.org/etis>
American Iris Society web site <http://www.irises.org>
talk archives: <http://www.hort.net/lists/iris-talk/>
photos archives: <http://www.hort.net/lists/iris-photos/>
online R&I <http://www.irisregister.com>

---------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@hort.net with the
message text UNSUBSCRIBE IRIS
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index