GRINDER IN USE
Laboratory Wet Grinder and Extractor. Thomas B. Gage, Simon H. Wend er, and Leon S. Cieressko, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Okla.
Various materials Lave been ground in this machine in considerable quantities. Nonfibrous Fruits and Vegetables are readily ground to small particles. I n grinding prunes or plums, the fleshy part of the fruit may be partially separated f N m the seed by periodically stopping the machine and removing the unground seeds. The seeds are not ground to any extent until the softer parts of the fruit have disintegrated and passed out of the grinding chamber. Grinding for a longer period, however, will hresk donm the seeds. Carrots, beets, okra pods, grapes, and peppers were easily ground. The small seeds in okra, grapes, and peppers were not ground to any extent, as they could pass through the 0.125-inch holes in the floor plat,e of the grinding machine. Fibrous Plant Materials. Honey locust pods contain a considerahle amount of tough, stringy fibers in the outer rod and possess very hard seed8 which tend to accumulate in the grinding chamber. The machine canpe stopped from time to time to permit removal of t,he m~.. cumulated debris. In t.his manner, the bulk of the nonfibrous m a t e r i a l is quickly ground and ready for extraction. The seeds of the honey locust pods are easily ground after a Dreliminsry softening by soaking. Okra stalks contain a large announ< of tough, woody f ibers fmm which the nonfiibmus material is quickly separated in the grinder. Occasioml remove1 of t h e f i b r o u s material permits the rapid grindingofokrastslks. Parsley leaves are more easily ground following a preliminary t r e a t men t with boiling water. The high bulk-;eight ratio of Figure 2 the fresh plant hinders rapid grinding. Boiling parsley with water and using this water in the grinding process make possible a combined grinding and extraction procedure.
reSeSirC1
h on the isolation and identification of flavonoid pigI. .ments . in valving water extraction of tsesh or dried plant maN
tenais, a need arose for a wet grinder capable of disintegrating from 1to 20 pounds of material. A convenient form of laboratory wet grinder and extractor has heen constructed by effecting s few simple alterations in the wiring circuit and water outlet of a commercial g a r b a g e dispsal unit (General Electric garbage Disposall). Such a unit is built to withstand the hot water discharge of thekitchonsink. This is an advantage in t,hat grinding ,may be combined with extracbion by use of hot water. Small experimental animals such as rats and mice may also be conveniently disintegrated fartotalasssy,if the presence of additional water in the resulting homogenate is not objectionable. The construction of Figure 1 the commercial unit is rugged. The extracts come in contact with hard corrosion-resista.nt alloys which according to the mrtnufacturer’s literature contain iron, nickel, chromium, aluminum, and copper. The grinder has been successfully used in making water extracts of several kinds of’plant materials. No destruction of flavonoid pigments was observed.
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OPERATION O F GRINDER
The “on-off” switch, located a t the entrance to the grinding chamber, is normally operated by turning the metal sink stopper. This permits the passage of water through the grinder in household operation without starting the machine. I n the modified laboratory grinder, this switch has been eliminated. For the “sink” portion of the laboratory grinder a 2-gallon stainless steel bucket is used. A 4inch hole was cut’ in the bottom of the bucket to permit attachment to the grinder. The machine was fastened to a circular plywood base by three pieces of strap iron. The base was supported by three rubber cushions to eliminate vibration.
quarts of wa&.
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P B E ~ ~ N Tbefore E D the Sixth Southwest Regional Meeting of the CAN Cmlarc~r.S o n e r r , Sa” Antonio, Tex.. December 9. 1950. W ported in part by B grant from the Atornio Energy Commission.
Simple Ultrafiltration Method. Willard L. McRary, Santa Barbma College, Universitv of California, Santa Barbara, Calif. shown in the diagram, utilizing simple techTniques . apparatus and equipment, provides method for producing modHE
Tge machine idstarted, the water is added. and
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erate volumes of ultrafiltrate with minimal attention.
aha&. The discharge%& i$ then elevated bv means of a 24-inch
I n assembling the device, a rubber sleeve cut from tubing is inserted over the glass tube a t the point where the CelloDhanC sac
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action to recycle the effluent mate6al into the 15-gallo~pat. 767
