Botanical Medicine Tincture Classes

Things have been rather busy here on my end, resulting in the lack of posting to this blog. We are currently in the middle of our first retreat for the month of August, and things are running beautifully. One of my responsibilities during our 9-Day Mountain Retreats is teaching two botanical medicine making/tincture classes, seemingly a natural move as I already am producing a respectable number of tinctures already. In these 1 - 1.5 hour courses, I take the retreat guests through the protocols, procedures, and pitfalls of the tincture-making process. After a 20 minute info session, we exit to the gardens behind the lodge, identifying various herbs and selecting a few for use in cold infusions. During this current retreat, our guests selected chamomile and lemon balm and ran a side-by-side comparison of their use in both cold and hot infusions, which we will check and sample during today's final session. After our trip through the gardens, we then began the sorting/selecting and maceration processes for two decoction extractions, one for coca and the other for Una de Gato, a.k.a. Cat's Claw. Today, we continue with the final steps for the coca and Una de Gato tinctures including, heating w/ 95% ethanol, filtration, reduction, and bottling processes. So far, the classes appear to be proceeding smoothly with active engagement from the guests. I believe one even had a dream about me going around the world harvesting plants. These sessions will prove to be excellent preparation for my full day medicine/tincture class at our associated permaculture hostel--The Hof--on August 17th. I've posted the flyer below:

Also, for those of you who are unfamiliar with the amazing medicinal properties of Una de Gato, I'll post some information below (P.S. I try to take some of this everyday):

Cat's Claw (Uncaria tomentosa), commonly known as "una de gato" in Spanish, is a South American rainforest herb known among the natives for its curative properties. Referred to as the "Sacred Herb of the Rainforest," this vine's small thorns located at the base of its leaves resemble a cat's claw. Sold over the counter as a cancer treatment in South America, cat's claw's use as a cancer aid shows promising results in studies conducted throughout the world.
- Herbs Against Cancer: History and Controversy by Ralph W. Moss PhD

Also called una de gato, cat's claw is a woody vine that grows in the tops of trees in Peruvian rain forests. It is a favorite for stimulating the immune system. Many of the single chemicals found in this powerful herb have been patented for use in treating AIDS, cancer, arthritis, and other diseases. However, using the whole plant can be more potent than any one isolated ingredient. Medicinal uses - • There are six alkaloids prevalent in cat's claw bark. These are what give this herb its incredible healing power.
- The Doctor's Complete Guide to Vitamins and Minerals by Dr. Mary Dan Eades


Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/027138_una_de_gato_cancer.html#ixzz2bOWPHT4c

I've also posted some of the information package that I hand out to our guests during the shorter courses below:

What is the difference between a tincture and an extract?

Tinctures are concentrated herbal extracts that have alcohol as the solvent. If you are using water, vinegar, glycerin, or any menstruum (solvent) other than alcohol, your preparation is an extract – not a tincture. Tinctures can be administered straight from the dropper bottle or added to tea, juice, or water and can be made from fresh or dried herbs.

Why use a tincture instead of the whole herb?

Tinctures are especially effective in drawing out the essential compounds of plants, especially those that are fibrous or woody, and from roots and resins. Since this method ensures that the herbs and their nutrients can be preserved for a long time, it is often mentioned in herbal books and remedies as a preferred way of using herbs. In addition, many herbalists love tinctures for other beneficial reasons, such as their being easy to carry, their utility for long-term treatments, and their ability to be absorbed rapidly, as well as allowing for immediate dosage changes. As well, should the tincture prove bitter, it's easily added to juice to disguise the flavor. Another benefit of tinctures is that they keep nutrients from the plants in a stable, soluble form and they retain the volatile and semi-volatile ingredients that are otherwise lost in heat-treatment and processing of dry herbal extracts

What type of extraction is used to make a tincture?

Although there are many extraction processes, the method commonly employed in the production of tinctures is known as a solid-liquid extraction. The solid phase in the extraction is the plant material, while the liquid phase is the solvent into which compounds from the plant are extracted.

How do extractions work?

All extractions are governed by a set of chemical rules based upon the interactions of intermolecular forces between the two phases involved in the extraction, resulting in the phrase, “like dissolves like.” The solvent will only absorb compounds similar to its own polarity profile from the bulk plant material, leaving dissimilar compounds behind. Most health beneficial compounds found within plants, such as bioactive alkaloids, are very polar, so polar solvents, such as water, ethanol and the like are typically used. These solvents are also safe to consume, so they make a practical choice. In this class we will be using an ethanol/water solvent system.

Alcohol Percentages

40% – 50% (80-90 proof vodka)
• “Standard” percentage range for tinctures.
• Good for most dried herbs and fresh herbs that are not juicy.
• Good for extraction of water soluble properties.

67.5% - 70% (½ 80 proof vodka + ½ 190 proof grain alcohol)
• Extracts most volatile aromatic properties.
• Good for fresh high-moisture herbs like lemon balm, berries, and aromatic roots.
• The higher alcohol percentage will draw out more of the plant juices.

85% – 95% (190 proof grain alcohol)
• Good for gums and resins.
• Extracts aromatics and essential oils that are bound in the plant and do not dissipate easily.
• The alcohol strength can produce a tincture that is not quite pleasant to take.
• Often used for drop dosage medicines.
• Will totally dehydrate herbs.

• Can be diluted with water post-extraction.

Some basic methods of extractions used with herbs are:

1) Cold Infusion: soaking material over a period of time in cold water with periodic agitation
2) Hot Infusion: soaking material over a shorter period of time in hot water with periodic agitation
3) Decoction: boiling material in water over an even shorter period of time with frequent agitation
4) Tincture: can be cold/hot infusion or decoction using alcohol as solvent

Phases of Tincture Making:

1) Selection: Use dried or fresh herbs. These can be hard (roots, bark, woody stems, seeds) or soft herbs (flowering parts, leaves, soft stems). Research what parts of various herbs contain the medicinal properties as well as which parts to avoid. Pick through your herb mass, discarding any parts that appear to have large blemishes.

2) Drying: This can be done using the traditional method of sun-drying, or the process can be expedited using a dehydrator.

3) Maceration: Since extractions rely upon intermolecular interactions occurring between the surfaces of the two phases involved, increasing the surface area of your solid plant material allows for a more efficient extraction. This can be accomplished by hand, scissors, knife, blender, or mortar and pestle. When using a blender, it would be a good idea to add some of the ethanol in with the plant material in order to prevent burning out the motor.

4) Extraction: If performed as a cold infusion, simply add plant material to a glass or ceramic vessel with the solvent, seal it, and agitate it each day for 1 day to 2 weeks. For a hot infusion. Heat the ethanol either in a double boiler apparatus or directly on the stove top to just under a boil, and proceed as if a cold infusion (requires less extraction time). For a decoction, simmer the solvent/plant mixture for 15 minutes to 5 hours, depending on the hardiness of the material. Be very careful when heating the solvent on a gas stove, as ethanol is flammable. Make sure to use a stainless steal pot.

5) Filtration: Depending on the size of the macerated plant pieces, one could use a strainer, colander, coffee filter, or cheesecloth.

6) Concentration/Dilution: Fresh plant extractions tinctured at a ration of 1 to 1 weight to volume in 190 proof alcohol will yield approximately a 55% alcohol tincture, which can be diluted with water (preferable distilled) to an appropriate concentration.

7) Bottling: After the appropriate concentration is achieved, pour using a funnel into desired size amber colored bottles (w/ dropper lids for dispensing, caps for storage)
Other Guidelines:

Rule of thumb when using dried herbs is to mix weight of herb with volume of alcohol at a 1: 4 ratio.
That is, mix 1 ounce of dried herb to 4 ounces of alcohol or mix 8 ounces of dried herb with 32 ounces of alcohol water mixture and so on.
For fresh herbs use a 1:1 ratio.



OTHER TINCTURE MENSTRUUMS:
Apple cider vinegar, rice wine vinegar and glycerin.
VINEGAR: Use vinegar full strength. With dried herb mix at a 1:4 weight to volume strength.
Combine and blend completely. Store and shake for two weeks. Pour and squeeze off through a cheese cloth. Siphon into amber bottles for therapeutic use.
I don't recommend using vinegar in live (fresh) plant extractions. With the water content from the plant, the vinegar may not be at an adequate ph to preserve the tincture. I like to keep vinegar tinctures refrigerated for added safety.
GLYCERIN: First mix water with glycerin at a 1:1 ratio.
Then, combine the water/glycerin mixture at a 1:4 weight to volume ratio with the dried herb. Blend completely in a blender. Store in a refrigerator and shake for two weeks. Pour off into amber bottle for use. Keep refrigerated.
NOTE: When making a glycerin extraction from fresh plant material, do not add water. The water in the fresh plant will be adequate. Mix the herb of a fresh plant extraction at a 1:1 weight to volume ratio. Blend. Store in refrigerator and shake often (daily). Strain. Store in refrigerator.

Well, that about does it for this morning. I'll be posting about my other activities and project progress from the past three weeks when I find time to do so. Until the next time...