Some herbalists choose to use glycerine as an alternative to alcohol to create their herbal extracts (glyercites). This modern approach can be a good alternative to alcohol extracts (tinctures) for:
- People who avoid alcohol for health or personal reasons.
- Children, elderly people, pregnant people, etc.
- Herbalists/people seeking a more palatable option that still offers some of the plant’s benefits.
Although glycerites aren’t nearly as potent or comprehensive as alcohol tinctures and they have a short, unstable shelf life, they still contain some therapeutic properties, particularly if the goal is more focused on water-soluble components or a more subtle, low dose remedy.
We personally prefer to create traditional extracts/alcohol extracts, i.e. tinctures and spagyrics. They have a very long shelf life, lasting several years when stored properly. But more importantly, tinctures yield a much broader spectrum of a plant’s constituents, including important medicinal alkaloids and volatiles, generating a more potent and well-rounded extraction.
For example, while exact percentages can vary depending on a specific alkaloid and plant material, alcohol generally extracts 50-70% more alkaloids than glycerine. For a single alkaloid, a highly non-polar one might see an even greater extraction difference. Same goes for volatiles, which contain a lot of the plant’s medicinal properties. Especially when using dried plant material, alcohol is vastly superior at capturing what’s left of the volatiles. Glycerine might capture an almost negligible amount of volatiles from dried plant material, so it’s not a practical choice for this purpose.
Have you ever wondered why this is? I don’t think it’s any accident that the two best solvents for herbal extraction are water (H20) and ethyl alcohol/ethanol (EtOH). In the alchemical tradition, alcohol is a naturally occurring substance produced by all plants via fermentation which is why it’s considered the essence or the “spirit” of the plant by alchemists. This why we refer to liquor as “spirits.”
I don’t hold the view that a stronger extract is necessarily always better. It just depends on the need. Whatever is ailing you might only require a low dose of a specific constituent that you can receive from a glycerite (or acetum/vinegar tincture). But on the flip side, if you’re seeking a potent dose of alkaloids or volatiles from a particular plant, for example, then a glycerite isn’t the optimal choice (unless you’re a child, pregnant, or avoid alcohol for personal reasons).
The point here is that it’s helpful to be informed and understand that not all bottles of liquid extracts are alike – a tincture and glycerite of the same plant will vary widely in the number of medicinal properties, as well as the strength/concentration of them. It may be helpful to consult with a knowledgeable herbalist who understands these distinctions so you don’t waste time/money on extractions that potentially won’t be able meet your therapeutic needs.
Ultimately, intention matters with respect to alcohol. Sometimes alcohol (understandably) gets a bad rap and I think it’s somewhat similar to how people vilify sugar. Glucose itself isn’t “evil” but when we compulsively consume too much of it, it can contribute to health issues like diabetes and obesity which, just like alcoholism, are actually DIS-eases of the mind, body, and spirit from an epigenetic and quantum physics perspective. And yet we blame the molecule for its mere existence.
I think it’s great that glycerites are available as a non-alcoholic option for folks. But we remain aligned with the alchemical view that ethyl alcohol is the spirit of the plant kingdom — and this is why I believe, aside from basic chemistry reasons, it has the innate ability to extract the medicinal properties of a plant with such ease. When a plant is submerged in ethanol for extraction, it’s as if the plant knows who it’s merging with.. it’s the higher self that’s pulling out the best in them.
Browse our tinctures and spagyrics, and for some background info check out Spirits, Spagyrics, and the Alchemical Tradition.