fermintation?? let the yeastie beasties eat it up... then evaporate off the alcohol.. or drink it 
Removal of sugars from fruit extracts?
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I thought about that, but I don't think it will work perfectly. Worth trying though, so I definitely will.
The flavoring I use for my ADV is actually "organically based" (inawera shisha strawberry), and I can absolutely vouch for the fact that it does not vape cleanly *at all* -- it requires dry-burning the coil every other day, and vaping it in a tank is really out of the question, because the heavy gunk darkens the entire tankful very quickly, and my husband informs me that it smells terrible, once darkened like that. I've tried other strawberry flavors and they don't even come close to a true strawberry flavor, so I stick with the shisha strawberry and deal with the frequent maintenance and vaping it in an RDA... but a lot of people would find that kind of frequent maintenance much too demanding, and some folks don't like RDAs.
It's really much safer to use artificial flavors for vaping, as counter-intuitive as that may seem; vaping and eating are two very different activities, and though I really prefer to have no artificial flavors in my food, they do work better for vaping.
Andria
That gunk that is building on your coils is residue from sugars. The only thing different about the flavors I would be making, and the flavors found in artificial flavorings is that they will not be synthesized in a lab. Aromatic volatiles are the reason we have a sense of taste, and they are present wherever we can taste something. I am simply trying to obtain them in a new way. It would also take a lot of experimentation out of getting accurate flavor profiles, as they will already be exactly the content found in an actual fruit. The flavorings will have the same chemical components as artificial flavors, just in different amounts. Your point that natural flavors have in the past gunked up your coils solidifies my argument that the sugars need to be completely removed, which is the whole point of this thread.
Well it does seem like a useful thing to do, and I wish you blessings on your endeavor; but as you point out, it may require expensive equipment to make it really viable. A business, with a source of funding, can generally afford to get the equipment and amortize the expense over an entire fiscal year or multiple years -- not a really feasible option for an individual, unless you're independently wealthy or have an investor.
Blessings!
Andria
Thanks! Hopefully I can find a way to do this, as I would like to start producing my own line of eliquid. I've made several batches with pre-made flavors and gotten some great results, and the idea of flavors as accurate as these could be is really exciting.
If I could find a strawberry flavoring that tasted like real strawberries, but wouldn't leave all that burnt crud on my coils, I would be all over it -- so I hope you succeed!
Andria
If I could find a strawberry flavoring that tasted like real strawberries, but wouldn't leave all that burnt crud on my coils, I would be all over it -- so I hope you succeed!
Andria
Strawberry is actually going to be the first thing I try, if it works out I'll send you a bottle, so check back on this post every once in a while.
Sounds good -- if it's a flavoring, rather than an ejuice. I've never found a single pre-made ejuice that I really like -- they're all too weak, and not nearly sweet enough to suit me. I've been DIYing for about a year now, and my ADV strawberry & cream is 31% flavoring -- admittedly, this is no doubt part of the reason for the excessive gunk, but I can taste what I'm vaping -- to me, that's worth any amount of bother.
My sense of smell started coming back almost as soon as I was smoke-free (and was way too keen even when I smoked!), but it was 6 months before I could really taste a vape much at all, and even now, 15 months after quitting, I think my tastebuds are still trying to wake up from 39 yrs of smoking.
Andria
Organics tend to decompose at lower temperatures than synthetics.
Your biggest hurdle will be flavor consistency from batch to batch.
Sounds like a good place to start. Please keep us updated on your progress.
Give this man a prize !
What will you use for a preservative, how will it taste in six months ? Do you have a clue as to how high the diacetyl level will be in your end result ?
A very interesting question! Fermentation would seem to be one good choice (probably perfect for non-citrus fruits like strawberries), here are a couple of others it you're willing to experiment:
1. Distill the fruit juice. This will leave the sugars behind, and hopefully get most of the flavors. You might get stronger flavors if you add alcohol, mix it up very well, and let it stand for a while to allow the alcohol to extract more of the flavorings. DISCLAIMER AND WARNING! Please find out all applicable laws regarding distillation in your area, and follow the laws! In some locations it is illegal to own any distillation equipment, and even to distill water! Also, if something goes wrong and you burn your house down, don't expect insurance to cover the loss if what you are doing is not legal! Neither I nor ECF are responsible if you break the law or endanger yourself or others based on this suggestion!
2. Mix the fruit juice with everclear or 100-proof vodka. Again, mix well, and give the alcohol time to extract the flavorings. Then add menthol crystals. You will see the liquid separate into 2 layers; an alcohol layer at the top, and a water layer at the bottom. Pull off the alcohol layer; it will have the menthol in it, but also should have much of the fruit flavorings. (Of course, this method will only let you make menthol-fruit flavors, but some of these, particularly citrus are actually quite tasty).
Those are great points. I was planning on doing a long term test to see how they fare over an extended period of time. However, consistency is probably going to be less of a problem than longevity. I have access to machines I can use to test the number and variety of volatiles in each sample so I can make adjustments in terms of flavor if necessary to provide consistency. The molecules breaking down is likely going to be more difficult to control.
I would be happy to include both, but my guess is that with the number and variety of volatiles produced by a fruit (most seem to produce between 250 and 400 different kinds, each with differing contents) the flavors will be much more concentrated in an extract like this, so I would be cautious with the amount used or it may be overpowering. Just a guess based on research I've done so far, I'll keep this in the list of things to report back on.Sounds good -- if it's a flavoring, rather than an ejuice. I've never found a single pre-made ejuice that I really like -- they're all too weak, and not nearly sweet enough to suit me. I've been DIYing for about a year now, and my ADV strawberry & cream is 31% flavoring -- admittedly, this is no doubt part of the reason for the excessive gunk, but I can taste what I'm vaping -- to me, that's worth any amount of bother.
My sense of smell started coming back almost as soon as I was smoke-free (and was way too keen even when I smoked!), but it was 6 months before I could really taste a vape much at all, and even now, 15 months after quitting, I think my tastebuds are still trying to wake up from 39 yrs of smoking.
Andria
Diacetyl is a volatile that produces one of the off-flavors in citrus fruits. Its concentration will therefore vary based on the fruit the extract is made from. Bananas, for example, have rather low levels of diacetyl, while lemons and other citrus fruits contain quite a bit. However, esters of C3 and C4 acids, along with an alcohol known as linalool produce much more of the flavor in even citrus fruits than diacetyl.
No, you cannot filter out sugars unless we are talking about membrane separation, which is not really a usual filter.
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Citric acid is usually used to both a) control bacterial growth (though PG does that on its own), and b) keep an ejuice's flavor from changing as it ages ("steeps").
Andria
A few points.
1. You cannot separate sugar from water with centrifuge. Yes, centrifuges are used in sugar industry, but only to separate crystallized sugar from a sugar-saturated liquid. So, liquid as always full of sugar, even after centrifuging.
2. I do not see how you can proceed with water-based solutions, unless you get rid of water.
3. Sugar is much less soluble in alcohol than in water (hundreds times). It looks promising (since times of alchemistry) to use pure alcohol to extract flavors from dried fruit; alcohol can be evaporated later. For some flavors PG may be used. For some flavors some other solvents can be needed.
4. Flavor industry is a well-developed industry, with its own research and publications. You may want to use Google Scholar to browse them (I have not done it).
1. You cannot separate sugar from water with centrifuge. Yes, centrifuges are used in sugar industry, but only to separate crystallized sugar from a sugar-saturated liquid. So, liquid as always full of sugar, even after centrifuging.
2. I do not see how you can proceed with water-based solutions, unless you get rid of water.
3. Sugar is much less soluble in alcohol than in water (hundreds times). It looks promising (since times of alchemistry) to use pure alcohol to extract flavors from dried fruit; alcohol can be evaporated later. For some flavors PG may be used. For some flavors some other solvents can be needed.
4. Flavor industry is a well-developed industry, with its own research and publications. You may want to use Google Scholar to browse them (I have not done it).
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