MHRB powdered vs. shredded vs. whole

[ASquishyApple]

I'm currently looking through the mega threads to find answers but don't have a lot of time so I was hoping to get a quick answer and I apologize if this thread is only adding to the clutter here.

For spice extraction purposes, is there any difference between powdered vs. shredded vs. whole pieces? I understand that the smaller it is the more surface area exists and the extraction process should go faster but does this have any effect on yield?

I'm not very familiar with plants and bio chemistry so I don't know how or where the spice is stored in the bark, but getting it pre shredded or powdered shouldn't result in lost spice right? And as long as the bark is left soaking in the baseified solution long enough the size of the pieces (within reason) shouldn't result in a lower yield should it?

 

[Black]

powdered theoretically gives you the highest yield, but shredded is much easier to work with (less goo and emulsions). whole is likely the cheapest option, but imho not worth it.

 

[Solipsis]

Black, do you have personal experience with different yields from the exact same source, part shredded and part powdered? I think the shreds should be fine (as in small or thin) if you want to get the DMT out of the plant matter, on the other hand you do boil the shit out of it. I have only ever bought powdered so I wouldn't know.
Whole is not an option so you can leave that by the door.

 

[ASquishyApple]

i just meant purchasing it on the whole. the site i was looking at has it as bark pieces, shredded, or powdered. the shredded is actually cheaper for some reason (they receive it shredded themselves whereas the powdered is made by them from the bark pieces). and the usual price is discounted further so shredded is cheap.

from the pics the shredded looks smaller than playground mulch. i'm just gonna get the shredded due to it being cheaper. i was just concerned with the yield being lower due to something being lost when its shredded or powdered but that doesn't seem to make any sense.

and the site has two different grades of bark. one is just regular bark the other is supposed to be higher quality due to the time of harvest as the rain washes dies and whatnot out of the bark and this is supposed to be harvested before rainy season so it has more purple/pink color to it. does anyone know if there's any difference as far as yields would go or is this just a marketing ploy?

 

[Solipsis]

Let's not discuss what you should or should not do. Granted this is not the same as 'what should I take?', this board is for sharing information and not encouragement. The quantity is a personal choice, it depends on the equipment you have, how much DMT you want to end up with or how many times you want to keep extracting in the future. That's all I wanna say about that.

The form however: I personally would not trust shredded pieces to be extracted efficiently enough. What cheaper it is you could easily lose in yield. What I think - of course I could be wrong! - is that shredded pieces are meant to be grinded by the end-user for instance in an electric coffee grinder.

 

[e1evene1even]

Powdered will generally have the best yields, but how recently it was powdered will be a big factor.

If a vendor has powdered mimosa that has been sitting there for a long time, whole bark will be superior (even factoring the added work).

For ayahuasca this will be less of a factor (as the oxidized alkaloids are still active, just less desirable for smoking) AFIAK.