The Herbal Medicine-Maker's Handbook_ A Home Manual - James Green [102]
Here is a testimonial from a grammar school teacher who, along with his associate, blissfully led their grade school munchkins through a community of Poison Oak:
“James, You asked for a follow-up on the Poison Oak remedy. Wonderful! Blisters left in 1 1/2 to 2 days, no further spreading and normalized in 4 days. Her kids went to the Dr. for theirs; it kept spreading with some relief in a week. Thanks, Tom.”
Glycerites, also known as glyco-extracts or fluid glycerates, are mixtures of medicinal substances with glycerin. The unique properties of glycerin as a menstruum provide a number of advantages. Glycerites can be easily diluted with water or alcohol without causing precipitation and are excellent to use in place of alcohol-based tinctures for children and individuals who are alcohol-intolerant. Glycerites’ sweet flavor makes them especially appropriate for administering to children.
Glycerin, the sweet principle of oils, was discovered in 1789 and came into use in medicine and pharmacy around 1846. It is a liquid obtained by the hydrolysis of vegetable or animal fats or fixed oils. Glycerin can be made in several ways. One process consists of subjecting fatty bodies to the action of water at a high temperature under pressure, whereby the fats, which are glycerides or esters of the fatty acids, are broken up into glycerin and fatty acids. The water supplies the hydrogen and oxygen necessary to effect the change. Glycerin can be synthesized by heating trichlorpropane (a petroleum product) with water at 365° F. I recommend that you use non-synthetic vegetable glycerin. Chemically, glycerin belongs to the class of alcohols, and is sometimes termed glycerol or glyceric alcohol.
The solvent and preservative properties of glycerin (which often protect against oxidation) as well as its agreeable taste and stable consistency render it one of the most valuable liquids known to pharmacy. It may be added to finished water/alcohol extracts or used in a menstruum mixed with water, alcohol, or vinegar, or any combination of the three. Its range of solvency lies somewhere between that of water and alcohol, and it will extract a variety of constituents that makes it useful in cases where neither water nor alcohol are appropriate. It is exceptionally effective in a menstruum for herbs containing considerable tannin, as it reduces precipitation of tannins and alkaloids. However, glycerin will not dissolve or mix with resins or fixed oils, so it is not suitable as a menstruum for resinous or oily herb extracts. It will preserve volatile oils (though not indefinitely) even if it does not extract them efficiently.
Glycerin is slightly antiseptic and has anti-fermentative properties that are excellent, although inferior to those of alcohol. When diluted, glycerin is demulcent, emollient, soothing, and healing. Undiluted, it is irritant and stimulant, arousing activity. It is useful in keeping substances moist, due to its tendency to absorb water from the air, and its properties adapt it for many medicinal purposes, both external and internal. Glycerin does not evaporate at normal temperatures and produces a sensation of warmth to the skin and tongue.
At present, making glycerites is a somewhat neglected art. However, with the current popularity of alcohol-free glycerites for children’s health care, this herbal delivery vehicle is coming into its own. There is still, unfortunately, only limited experience in the herbal pharmacy world from which to draw. The following processes are those that I have explored. I encourage further creative experimentation and sharing among herbal medicine-makers, so we can revive and teach this valuable extraction technique. The dawn of a glycerated herbal renaissance is at hand.
Common belief has it that the presence of 50 percent glycerin by volume will serve as a good preservative for an herbal solution. It has been my experience, however, this is not