180
Subtle Agroecologies
BOX 16.1 THE CRYSTALLISATION METHOD
The crystallisation method was developed in the 1930s by Ehrenfried Pfeiffer (1899–1961),
a German scientist, who was strongly connected to the biodynamic agricultural movement.
Pfeiffer received an honorary degree of Doctor of Medicine from Hahnemann Medical
College in Philadelphia in 1939 for his contribution to the development of the crystallisation
method in relation to the detection and localisation of the early onset of cancer via blood
samples.
against different environmental infuences. Organic agricultural research works from the hypothesis
that cultivation measures (fertilisation, tillage, seed variety, etc.) infuence the degree to which an
organism can maintain its integrity, and this has a strong correlation with the organism’s health,
whether plant, animal or human (Velimirov et al., 2010). Following this line of thought, a whole food
product should not be reduced to a set of chemicals, but should be seen as a dynamic, hierarchically
organised unit. Because of this, one could argue that the results of nutritional tests cannot be reduced
to the chemical composition of the food. From a systemic biology perspective, it is acknowledged
that an organism cannot be regarded as a simple chain of cause–effect relations between its different
compounds, but instead as a highly complex coherent whole (Sauer et al., 2007).
THE CRYSTALLISATION METHOD
I encountered the crystallisation method in 2000 at the Dutch Louis Bolk Institute and was overwhelmed. I realised that this method makes it possible to acquire a ‘fngerprint’ of this extremely
complex ‘coherence’ of our food. 2 Box 16.1 describes the crystallisation method.
The method is based on the generation and subsequent evaluation of dendritic crystallisation
patterns (i.e. the ‘fngerprints’), which emerge when an aqueous dihydrate cupric chloride solution (CuCl 2 ·2H 2 O) is crystallised on a glass plate in the presence of a water-soluble additive (the
sample; Busscher et al., 2010a; Gallinet and Gauthier-Manuel 1992). Additives can be single
molecules as well as complex food matrices. The crystallisation patterns are additive specifc
(Andersen et al., 1998, 2001; Fritz et al., 2017; Kahl et al., 2014, 2016; Seidel et al., 2015; Shibata
et al., 2000; Schweizer et al., 2010; Szulc et al., 2010; Vester, 1960) (see Figure 16.1) and emerge
through a self-organisation process of the copper chloride (CuCl 2 ) which is infuenced by the
physical, chemical and biological properties of the additive (Busscher et al., 2010b, 2014, 2018). A
remark by Rudolf Steiner, that ‘spirit is never without matter, and matter is never without spirit’,
helps me to regard the crystallisation images as a ‘manifestation’ of the spiritual dimension of
the organism that the pictures originate from, and the degree to which they’re able to maintain
their integrity.
The characteristics of the crystallisation patterns can be evaluated by human visual evaluation
using defned criteria, developed according to adapted ISO norms for sensory analysis (Huber et al.,
2010a; Doesburg et al., 2015), and/or by computer-based image analysis using texture or structure
variables (Andersen et al., 1999; Doesburg and Nierop, 2013; Unluturk et al., 2013). This kind of
fngerprint analysis has been applied to a broad range of additives, addressing different research
2 Crystallisation research in the Netherlands took place at the Louis Bolk Institute in Driebergen until 2010. Since 2010,
Paul Doesburg maintained an independent laboratory, Crystal Lab (https://www.crystal-lab.nl/), in the former monastery Roepaen in Ottersum (the Netherlands), which is connected to a European consortium of fve crystallisation
laboratories. Paul is currently rebuilding his crystallisation laboratory at the Hiscia Research Institute in Arlesheim,
Switzerland.
Subtle Agroecologies
BOX 16.1 THE CRYSTALLISATION METHOD
The crystallisation method was developed in the 1930s by Ehrenfried Pfeiffer (1899–1961),
a German scientist, who was strongly connected to the biodynamic agricultural movement.
Pfeiffer received an honorary degree of Doctor of Medicine from Hahnemann Medical
College in Philadelphia in 1939 for his contribution to the development of the crystallisation
method in relation to the detection and localisation of the early onset of cancer via blood
samples.
against different environmental infuences. Organic agricultural research works from the hypothesis
that cultivation measures (fertilisation, tillage, seed variety, etc.) infuence the degree to which an
organism can maintain its integrity, and this has a strong correlation with the organism’s health,
whether plant, animal or human (Velimirov et al., 2010). Following this line of thought, a whole food
product should not be reduced to a set of chemicals, but should be seen as a dynamic, hierarchically
organised unit. Because of this, one could argue that the results of nutritional tests cannot be reduced
to the chemical composition of the food. From a systemic biology perspective, it is acknowledged
that an organism cannot be regarded as a simple chain of cause–effect relations between its different
compounds, but instead as a highly complex coherent whole (Sauer et al., 2007).
THE CRYSTALLISATION METHOD
I encountered the crystallisation method in 2000 at the Dutch Louis Bolk Institute and was overwhelmed. I realised that this method makes it possible to acquire a ‘fngerprint’ of this extremely
complex ‘coherence’ of our food. 2 Box 16.1 describes the crystallisation method.
The method is based on the generation and subsequent evaluation of dendritic crystallisation
patterns (i.e. the ‘fngerprints’), which emerge when an aqueous dihydrate cupric chloride solution (CuCl 2 ·2H 2 O) is crystallised on a glass plate in the presence of a water-soluble additive (the
sample; Busscher et al., 2010a; Gallinet and Gauthier-Manuel 1992). Additives can be single
molecules as well as complex food matrices. The crystallisation patterns are additive specifc
(Andersen et al., 1998, 2001; Fritz et al., 2017; Kahl et al., 2014, 2016; Seidel et al., 2015; Shibata
et al., 2000; Schweizer et al., 2010; Szulc et al., 2010; Vester, 1960) (see Figure 16.1) and emerge
through a self-organisation process of the copper chloride (CuCl 2 ) which is infuenced by the
physical, chemical and biological properties of the additive (Busscher et al., 2010b, 2014, 2018). A
remark by Rudolf Steiner, that ‘spirit is never without matter, and matter is never without spirit’,
helps me to regard the crystallisation images as a ‘manifestation’ of the spiritual dimension of
the organism that the pictures originate from, and the degree to which they’re able to maintain
their integrity.
The characteristics of the crystallisation patterns can be evaluated by human visual evaluation
using defned criteria, developed according to adapted ISO norms for sensory analysis (Huber et al.,
2010a; Doesburg et al., 2015), and/or by computer-based image analysis using texture or structure
variables (Andersen et al., 1999; Doesburg and Nierop, 2013; Unluturk et al., 2013). This kind of
fngerprint analysis has been applied to a broad range of additives, addressing different research
2 Crystallisation research in the Netherlands took place at the Louis Bolk Institute in Driebergen until 2010. Since 2010,
Paul Doesburg maintained an independent laboratory, Crystal Lab (https://www.crystal-lab.nl/), in the former monastery Roepaen in Ottersum (the Netherlands), which is connected to a European consortium of fve crystallisation
laboratories. Paul is currently rebuilding his crystallisation laboratory at the Hiscia Research Institute in Arlesheim,
Switzerland.