Herbal Extracts and Essential Oils

[Guest guest]

>

>--- T <feline4 wrote:

> > Hey everyone,

> >

> > Thanks for all the posts and intros. Wow, what a

> > response. It's great.

> >

> > I have a question.

> >

> > What is the difference between a herbal extract and

> > an essential oil?

> >

> > Thanks

> > Tracy

>

 

Tracy,

 

One of the myriad of ways to make an extract is to take an herb, fresh or

dried, place it in a jar of 100-proof vodka, and let it sit for 2 to 12

weeks (depending on the herb, and how strong you wish the extract to be) in

a warm place. You would shake this gently once a day, to distribute the

herb and let the juices mix, so to speak. After the constituents of the

herb has been extracted, (there are ways to test for chemical

standardization) you strain the vodka from the herb and decant. All

supplies must be sterile. This can be a complicated and confusing process,

but once you have the knowledge and tools, it can be one way of ustilizing

herbs to their fullest potential. This is especially true in the winter

months when fresh herbs are hard to come by, you will always have what you

need on hand.

 

Herbs that can be extracted include dandelion root, fo-ti, scullcap, and

countless others.

 

Essential oils are extracted from herbs in a few different ways. One

popular process is called steam distillation wherein the herb is basically

heated so that the essential oils are released, and then are gathered

through a tube which quickly cools them and collects in a bottle/pan/pail.

However, delicate herbs/flowers such as jasmine would be ruined in such a

process because the essential oils are so volatile that the heating process

would render them useless and very unpleasant. In this situation, the oils

are actually pressed (somewhat similar to olive oil extraction) so that the

jasmine is not compromised.

 

Placing herbs into another oil is not truly an essential oil, but is

actually another good method of extraction. I personally love to take a

bottle of olive oil, place garlic, oregano, or rosemary (there are many

flavors one can process) and use this for cooking. You must make sure that

all plant material is completely dried (except in the case of garlic, and

then this is still debatable) so that you will not grow a healthy variety of

mold. To combat this, make small concoctions that you know will be used

within a short period of time.

 

I trust that this is a good start.

 

Sara.