Anyone know how to make herbal extract oils?!


Question:

Anyone know how to make herbal extract oils?

I'm growing a number of herbs but I am mostly interested in making some mint extract and lavender oil.


Answers:

There are a number of ways to go about this depending on what purity you would like and how technical you want to get.

Begin by collecting the part or parts of the plant while it is in full bloom if it is flower bearing, or at its mature point during mid-afternoon to ensure that the oils are at peak suspension in the fibers. The collected parts can be dried in the shade on newspaper, avoid direct sunlight as this has a tendency to destroy the majority of the oils before you get a chance to extract them.

For more delicate plants and flowers such as lavender, you may even want to cover them with an additional piece of newspaper to protect them from the elements during the drying process. A few days should be adequate to remove moisture especially during summer months. If you live in an area which is particularly dry you may even wish to consider doing the drying indoors. You want to avoid drying too fast or with too much heat at once.

Once dried prepare the plant by cutting and/or blending into tiny pieces. The smaller the better for extraction.

Alcohol Extracts- Always use ethanol, or a consumable form of alcohol such as ever-clear or as high proof as you can find. 80 proof vodka is sufficient. Place the herb in a glass container which can be sealed air-tight, a long neck bottle is great for this but a mason jar is fine. Pour the alcohol to just cover the herb by quarter to half inch over. If there is metal on the lid you are using place plastic wrap over the opening befor applying the lid, you want to avoid the liquid touching metal as most metals will neutralize oils. Then either place this in a dark warm place or wrap in aluminum foil and place in a warm place. Don't let the temperature Exceed 96-97o F. This process if done in the long neck bottle is perfect for percolation or reflux. The alcohol will evaporate and travel up to the top, then cool and drip back down, the longer this is allowed to commence the stronger the tincture will become. About two weeks should be sufficient.

A more pure form of ethanol for extraction can be made using a very simple method. (Alternately this method could also be used to evaporate off the alcohol from the strained tincture made by the method above.) You will need one large jar with an airtight fitting lid and a smaller glass container which fits right inside of it. The smaller container is filled with your alcohol, red grape wine is traditional, the lid is sealed, again using plastic wrap first if there is any metal, wrapped in aluminum foil to protect from light, and placed in an area that does not reach over 97oF. (Ethanol's boiling point is 96.8oF.)
As the alcohol evaporates from the central container it will condense and collect in the bottom of the larger jar. This can then be collected and used for more potent extractions, the more pure the ethanol the stronger and more pure the extraction will be.

Alcohol Distillation- A faster method is using a distillation train. This however is a lab method and involves pricey equipment and uses a Bunsen burner. (Open flame with alcohol, I am sort of hesitant to go into it here as it can be dangerous.) I gave some links in the source space below if you are interested in pursuing something more high tech. The Crucible site, the first listing, is an on-line marketplace where several different forms of extraction equipment is available. Also try checking e-bay search "distillation." One of the sellers is a Chemistry teacher who is happy to answer questions. His store is "Avogadro's Lab Supply."

I hope this is useful to everyone!

93 93/93

PS: I am in no way connected to any store listed, referred to or implied, since these are specialty or hard to find items the listings are for information only. Using the methods described above should be more than sufficient for most needs.




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