Types of Herbal Extracts
Herbal Tinctures
A tincture is an herbal extract made using alcohol. Historically fresh herbs picked at their peak of potency were used to make tinctures. To make a tincture, the herbs were soaked in alcohol for up to a year. The plants would disintegrate in the alcohol and form a residue of organic material on the bottom of the vessel. The tincture never went bad and it tended to get better and stronger over time. Tinctures are the favourite extract in herbalism because both water soluble and fat soluble constituents can be easily extracted into the alcohol.
The only concern about them is the alcohol. This concern has been historically disregarded by herbalists and herbologists as not enough to do damage. And mostly they were right. It was more important to be able to administer the needed biochemicals than to abstain from all alcohol, particularly if the remedy would help the liver and kidneys. Plus, if you put the tincture in a hot tea a lot of the alcohol would evaporate.
Still, the concern about alcohol persists in some corners so there have been attempts to make extractions with other things than alcohol for people with this concern. Also, the better flavours make it easier to give to children.
These extracts are not actually tinctures even though people sometimes call them that in the same spirit as one would call a veggie patty a hamburger. Sometimes they are called tonics which is a general term and therefore more appropriate because that term can cover anything, even tinctures.
Alcohol-Free Options
These are the common alternatives to alcohol tinctures:
- Glycerin extracts
- Vinegar extracts
- Oxymels
- Cold pressing
- Water Extracts
- Specific lab procedure extracts
- Essential Oils
There are also glycerin “non-alcoholic” tinctures that are tinctures with most of the alcohol removed and then added to glycerin. These are very tasty and effective depending on the ratio of glycerin to actual tincture.
That's the drawback though. I don't know of any products that actually have enough of the tinctured substance in the glycerin to make it powerful. Some are OK, but in a lot of them, the taste of the herb cannot even be detected.
Incidentally, Glycerol, Glycerine and Glycerin all refer to the same chemical structure. Different areas like Biology and Industry use different words to refer to the same thing.
7 Types of Extracts without Alcohol
Glycerin extracts are better than water at extracting the ingredients of an herb. It is in the mid range between water and alcohol. For effective preservation the glycerin needs to be at least 55% of the extraction solution. These extractions are often referred to as glycerites. The advantage of glycerites is that they taste good because glycerin is thick and sweet. Not as thick as honey but it reminds people of honey when they eat it. It is derived from vegetable oil. It is the backbone of the triglyceride that the fatty acids were attached to.
This extract will not get all of the fat soluble components or many of the important phytochemicals like the alkaloids, resins, essential oils and a host of other alcohol soluble compounds. And it won't last half as long as alcohol, but because of its taste it generally doesn't last that long anyway.
Vinegar Extracts
Vinegar is better than water at extracting some fat soluble phytochemicals, but not as good as glycerin. It makes a mild tonic. It can be slightly improved by mixing the extract solution with honey.
Oxymels
This is a mixture of vinegar and honey. This extracts more than with just vinegar and it is very pleasant to take. “Oxy-” does not refer to oxygen in this word, but to the acid of the vinegar, since the prefix “Oxy-” from Greek, means sharp or acrid among other related things. This is like a sweet and sour mix.
Cold Pressing
This is basically getting the juice out of the plant with pressure without heating it. Juicing is included in this method as it is mechanical energy applied to the plant to release the juice. One of the best juicers in existence contains a mechanical press as the last step in getting out all the juice. You put in the pulp leavings from the juicing and press out the last remaining juice which leaves a bone dry pulp.
This is a very good method if you have the time and resources to do it. Good quality juicers can cost over a thousand dollars and you will discover that you need a lot of herbs to make a glass of extract, commonly known as juice. But I don't think there is a healthier way to get the most out of an herb. These extracts are closest to the actual process of eating, but it is more readily absorbed.
Many health practitioners when helping a sick person tell them to stop eating solid foods and get nutrients through juicing during their convalescence. This completely rests the digestive system and allows it to repair itself because the juice just goes right into the system without waste.
Sometimes people get fooled by blender companies into thinking a “juice” can be made by just blending up the herb into a liquid. While this has its place, as in making smoothies, it is not an extract and does not rest the digestive system. It contains the indigestible plant fiber that must still be moved through the digestive system, hence it is not the same thing and should not be called a juice. Blenders are not juicers.
Some people blend an herb and then strain out the fiber by forcing it through a filter like a fine cheesecloth. This would be the process of extraction and would then turn this smoothie like liquid into a juice.
Water Extracts
These are teas, which can be infusions or decoctions which both use heat, or cold infused herbs that just use water at various temperatures over a long period of time.
Specific Lab Procedure Extracts
Laboratories will use chemistry know-how to pull out specific active ingredients for study. Extraction methods vary with different solvents and/or lab equipment or reactive chemicals. Some of these extracts wind up being marketed and sold as standardized extracts.
Essential Oils are a fraction of a plant, or part of a plant, that contain volatile oil. These oils are most commonly steam distilled from the flower, seeds, buds, leaves, bark, fruits, roots and or resins of the plant. The plant matter is put in a chamber and steam is flowed into the chamber which makes the oils evaporate into the steam which is then captured in a condenser and collected as it turns back into a liquid.
These oils are not very thick and resemble water more than they do an oil, but they have a strong smell and since it is the same as the smell of the plant it is thought to be the essence of the plant, hence essential oils. Actually these oils are more or less the immune system of the plant containing important medicinal phytochemicals like terpenes, phenols, etc. I have had some great success in ingesting these, but conventionally they are mostly used topically or in aroma therapy.
Summary
So, in summary, the history of herbal extracts came about in the quest to avoid the alcohol in tinctures, but then it was discovered that the taste improvement was a big plus and an extract isn't effective if you don't take it, so there is that.
But if you are just going for effectiveness, the order of extract effectiveness is: Tinctures, Glycerin, Oxymels, Vinegar and water. The lab procedure extracts would have to be individually evaluated, but are usually only the most studied effective ingredient, not the whole plant. Essential Oils would be included in the lab extracts and Cold pressing can be still considered a food and so might be the most effective of all.
At Herbal Roots we sometimes add appropriate extracts to our herbal supplements when they are available to give you nature's recipe, but strengthened. We love to bring you the best!