Making Herbal Tinctures

Herbs have been extracted using alcohol for generations and it has been proven to extract most of the known active ingredients, while also acting as a preservative. Our bodies are able to assimilate the botanicals into our systems more efficiently because the active ingredients are already extracted.

While there are several different ways to make tinctures, we make ours in two different ways:

Traditional Method: The herbs are soaked in organic ethyl alcohol for about 2 weeks in stationary buckets. After the herbs are removed from the buckets, they are placed in an industrial herb press and the liquid is removed. The herbs are then soaked in water for a few hours and then pressed out in an industrial press to remove all the remaining liquid from the herb. The two liquids are combined and the alcohol and volume are adjusted to achieve the correct ratio for the tincture. If the extraction contains too much alcohol, it is placed into a rotational evaporation machine and alcohol is removed until the correct amount is left in the extraction. You now have a tincture.

Mechanical Method: The herbs are placed into a custom made extraction machine. The herbs are covered with organic ethyl alcohol and place under a vacuum in a primary chamber. This allows for the mixture to boil at a very low temperature (20 degrees C) to remove the active ingredients more effectively. The liquid is drained off of the herbs and moves through an evaporation chamber similar to a still and alcohol is removed from the extraction. The herb is extracted a total of three times then placed in a water wash for several hours. All of liquids become combined in the evaporation chamber and alcohol is removed until the extraction reaches the desired concentration. You now have a tincture.

You may notice that not all tinctures contain alcohol, but have glycerine in them instead. Glycerine based tinctures are alcohol extracted herbs, that have had their alcohol removed and replaced with glycerine. They go through the same processes as above except that the alcohol is removed and replaced with glycerine. Glycerine itself is not used to extract the herbal components of our products.

The ratio of our herbal tinctures describes their strength and they are standardized according to the Natural Health Products Directorate (NHPD) monographs. We look at the NHPD monographs and model our products to best meet the safety and quality requirements set out for herbs and determine for each of our tinctures a ratio that will provide the most convenient dosage. For instance, 1:5 is one of the more common strengths and means that 1 gram of herb was used to make every 5 millilitres of tincture. This is equivalent to 0.2 g/ml dried equivalent of herb. Based on a dose of 5 ml three times a day, your body would be getting: 0.2g/ml*5ml*3 times a day = 3 grams dried equivalent of herb per day

NNS makes over 30 tinctures ranging from liver tonics (Milk Thistle) to cold and flu treatments (Echinacea Spray, Eleuthero tincture, Astragalus tincture). For more information on all of our products, please visit our website @ www.naturallynovascotia.com.

By Tasha Allen
Quality Manager and ‘Tincture-Maker’ at NNS