Making Liquid Herbal Extracts or Tinctures
Making Liquid Herbal Extracts or Tinctures
Instructions prepared by Suzanne Zick, ND, MPH
Extraction is the process of obtaining the constituents of an herb by means of a suitable solvent. By this process, the indigestible woody fiber (cellulose) and other insoluble material are left behind, so that only the soluble parts of the whole herb end up in the preparation. The solvent(s) that are chosen depend on the constituents present in the herb. The descriptions and directions below apply to when using an alcohol water mixture as the solvent.
Tincture Strength and Nomenclature
The proportion of an herb to its solvent is most often recorded as a weight/volume (w/v) ratio of the tincture where the plant material is lasted first as a weight and the solvent second as a volume. For example, a 1(part plant material by weight):5(solvent by volume) w/v tincture or a 20% tincture. This nomenclature helps in dosing as a practitioner or pharmacist knows how many grams of herb the patient is receiving in any given volume of tincture. In the above example a patient taking 200 ml of tincture per day would be receiving 40 gm equivalent of herbs (less than two teaspoons).
Conforming in principle to the standards recommended by the International Protocol adopted at Brussels in 1902
1. Tinctures of dried “toxic” botanicals or “intense” botanicals represent the activity of 10 gm of dried herb in each 100 cc of tincture (called a 10% or 1:10 w/v tincture)
2. Tinctures of dried non-toxic botanicals represent the activity of 20 gm of dried herb in each 100 cc of tincture (called a 20% or 1:5 w/v tincture).
3. Tinctures of fresh botanicals represent the activity of 50 gm of dried herb in each 100 cc of tincture (called a 50% or 1:2 w/v tincture).
Determining the ‘correct’ proportions of alcohol to water in the solvent
The percentage of water and alcohol in a tincture is based on the plant constituents that are to be extracted. Some plant constituents such as alkaloids
Instructions prepared by Suzanne Zick, ND, MPH
Extraction is the process of obtaining the constituents of an herb by means of a suitable solvent. By this process, the indigestible woody fiber (cellulose) and other insoluble material are left behind, so that only the soluble parts of the whole herb end up in the preparation. The solvent(s) that are chosen depend on the constituents present in the herb. The descriptions and directions below apply to when using an alcohol water mixture as the solvent.
Tincture Strength and Nomenclature
The proportion of an herb to its solvent is most often recorded as a weight/volume (w/v) ratio of the tincture where the plant material is lasted first as a weight and the solvent second as a volume. For example, a 1(part plant material by weight):5(solvent by volume) w/v tincture or a 20% tincture. This nomenclature helps in dosing as a practitioner or pharmacist knows how many grams of herb the patient is receiving in any given volume of tincture. In the above example a patient taking 200 ml of tincture per day would be receiving 40 gm equivalent of herbs (less than two teaspoons).
Conforming in principle to the standards recommended by the International Protocol adopted at Brussels in 1902
1. Tinctures of dried “toxic” botanicals or “intense” botanicals represent the activity of 10 gm of dried herb in each 100 cc of tincture (called a 10% or 1:10 w/v tincture)
2. Tinctures of dried non-toxic botanicals represent the activity of 20 gm of dried herb in each 100 cc of tincture (called a 20% or 1:5 w/v tincture).
3. Tinctures of fresh botanicals represent the activity of 50 gm of dried herb in each 100 cc of tincture (called a 50% or 1:2 w/v tincture).
Determining the ‘correct’ proportions of alcohol to water in the solvent
The percentage of water and alcohol in a tincture is based on the plant constituents that are to be extracted. Some plant constituents such as alkaloids