Water extract of Bark

[GBALA]

I know very little about bark and I did extraction of bark of a tree with water by cold extraction. It yielded good quantity of crude extract and when I applied the same onto Diaion hp-20 column i got fractions. The first fraction which is eluted with water is in reddish cherry color and no observable TLC spot. When I kept this particular fraction overnight at RT some white color compound started precipitating. It looked great for a moment but the problem is when I again tried to dissolve it in water it didnt dissolve. What could be wrong here? What kind of compound it could be? Many more thanks in advance.

[CaptainPanic]

My first guess is that you just created a sugar solution, in which some micro-organisms started to grow. It can just have dropped in from the air. Life can be quite contagious.

 

My second (and as far as I'm concerned less likely) guess is that it could be a type of wax, which forms an emulsion over time... but it is really just a guess. Plants can contain waxes and other hydrophobic/non-polar components, but these may differ from plant to plant. But I would expect that those would precipitate out quicker (or not be in your water solution at all after running it though that column). Maybe you should do a specific literature search about the specific type of bark you have? I wonder if bark contains any proteins that you could wash out so easily? Protein solubility can change with small changes in pH.

 

I think it should be relatively straightforward to see if it is alive: just feed it a bit more sugar. If it keeps growing, it's alive.

If not, collect it and run it through a GC/MS.

[GBALA]

My first guess is that you just created a sugar solution, in which some micro-organisms started to grow. It can just have dropped in from the air. Life can be quite contagious.

 

My second (and as far as I'm concerned less likely) guess is that it could be a type of wax, which forms an emulsion over time... but it is really just a guess. Plants can contain waxes and other hydrophobic/non-polar components, but these may differ from plant to plant. But I would expect that those would precipitate out quicker (or not be in your water solution at all after running it though that column). Maybe you should do a specific literature search about the specific type of bark you have? I wonder if bark contains any proteins that you could wash out so easily? Protein solubility can change with small changes in pH.

 

I think it should be relatively straightforward to see if it is alive: just feed it a bit more sugar. If it keeps growing, it's alive.

If not, collect it and run it through a GC/MS.

i would disagree with ur thoghts. i found a way to dissolve the precipitate by dissolving it in more volume of water. it dissolved. still running out of idea what could it be. thinking that it could be water soluble tannins or their esters.

[hypervalent_iodine]

I would also disagree with CP. If it were a wax or something hydrophobic, separation with water wouldn't have worked. If it were a microbe, it would be fairly obvious.

 

It's possible that the solvent you have it in is reacting with your compound to some extent and forming something that is less water soluble. I wouldn't be able to guess as to what exactly it is, but you might get some idea if you separate it and run mass spec, IR or NMR and compare it to the compound that eluted or you could re-run the fraction through HPLC or GC and see how many peaks you get.

[Bromo_DragonFly]

the fact that it dissolves in alot of water but no little water , dosn't assure that it's not some kind of essential oil.

but my guess is it's not the result of a fungi/bacterial or other micro-organisms, as many trees bark contain chemicals to prohibit them or at least it wouldn't happen too soon (overnight !!!)

you can get a sensible idea of it's chemical formula by reacting it with other known compounds.

knowing the solubility isn't enough if you wanna guess it.