Does Alcohol Belong In Herbal Tinctures?

Given the choice, some of your natural products customers might prefer to use a nonalcoholic herbal tincture. They may be sensitive to alcohol, reluctant to give it to a young child, or unable, because of a history of alcoholism, to take alcohol in any form—even in a dropperful of echinacea extract. Despite this, most herbalists, doctors and manufacturers remain loyal to the traditional alcohol tincture. But a few are slowly breaking away.

"Since we are specifically marketing to children, I don't believe alcohol is appropriate, or even necessary. Glycerin is a powerful solvent and a great extractive.

"The herbs we've chosen have lots of water-soluble constituents that pull out into glycerin like a charm. Chamomile, catnip, ginger and echinacea extract really well. They're strong, they're effective and most importantly, you get compliance from kids because they like the taste.

"Alcohol extraction makes for a more expensive product and I don't think that's necessary for some of the children's herbs. If we needed other herbs like chaparral or Dong quai in our products, I might say that glycerin wasn't the most effective extractive. But for what we choose to use, it's perfect."

Sunny Mavor
Herbalist and Founder, Herbs For Kids,
Bozeman, Mont.

"We make alcoholic tinctures because we have found them to be clinically effective. We have not yet come out with a nonalcoholic line because I tested a number of products and was unimpressed with their efficacy. I thought I was doing my patients a favor, but they weren't getting better. So I went to standardized powders and got results.

"Nonalcoholic preparations for children are a great idea—it doesn't matter if they're not strong because children don't need a lot of an herb to get better. Giving an adult a nonalcoholic tincture means they're going to need an enormous amount.

"You also can't heat off all the alcohol [to make a nonalcoholic tincture]. If you're heating off the alcohol, you're either heating the herb to such a degree that the herb changes, or you are not getting out all the alcohol.

"We probably will come out with a nonalcoholic alternative for children, but not for adults. Unless someone comes up with a brilliant technology, I think it will be some time before we pursue it."

Janet Zand, O.M.D., L.Ac.
Co-founder and Formulator, Zand Herbal Formulas,
Boulder, Colo.

"Most herbalists agree that you need a certain amount of alcohol for different products to extract [a plant's] active ingredients. If you want the relaxing components of chamomile, you can do a simple tea. But if you want the anti-inflammatory properties of the plant, then you need alcohol to extract [those constituents].

"My brokers have been on my case to come out with an alcohol-free extract for five years. But it's a tough choice. A lot of manufacturers extract simply by using glycerin. The problem is, glycerin doesn't extract alcohol-soluble properties very well.

"Five years ago we analyzed seven different brands of alcohol-free echinacea on the market. For the best brand at that time, you needed 10 bottles to be equal to one extracted with alcohol. The worst one was 256 bottles.

"We tried extracting with vinegar, we tried glycerin, we tried alcohol and used a lot of heat to remove the alcohol. About a year ago we finally found a room-temperature method of extracting the alcohol without boiling it. We found we had the same strength for our nonalcoholic [echinacea] extract as we had for the alcohol extract."

Daniel Gagnon
Medicinal Herbalist and President, Herbs, Etc.,
Santa Fe, N.M.

"When you eat a whole herb you actually change that herb in your body so you can extract both water-soluble and insoluble materials. You get more of the available materials by eating the whole herb. But you can't chew or swallow enough herb, so you use an [alcohol] extract.

"When you use alcohol to extract, you extract both the water-soluble and the hydrophobic compounds. You get a fuller range of compounds. If you want the most potent extracts that are most like what nature intended, you probably would use alcohol."

Dean Stull
CEO, Hauser Inc.,
Boulder, Colo.

"Grain alcohol is the best substance we know of—that can be consumed—that dissolves the maximum number of [biologically active] plant constituents. That's one reason we use it in the extraction process.

"Why we leave it in is another question. First of all, I think the less production you can do on a plant, the better. Number two, alcohol is a wonderful carrier. It increases the absorption rate of the herbal medicine. Third, alcohol is an excellent preservative. I've taken tinctures made in the 1940s that were still viable. I'm not so sure about products that have had the alcohol removed. Even an [alcohol] tincture's shelf life is debatable."

Linda Whitedove,
Herbalist and Formulator, Homegrown Herbals,
Hygiene, Colo.