Herbal Extracts Explained: Tinctures, Glycerites and Standardized Extracts

What is an herbal extract?

Every herbal preparation starts with plant material, fresh or dried, and something to draw compounds out of it. That something is called the menstruum (or solvent). Water, alcohol and glycerin are the common ones. The result is either used as a liquid or dried down to a powder.

The NIH Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS) describes the main forms in plain terms. A tea is made by pouring boiling water over the herb and letting it steep. An infusion is simply a stronger tea. Roots, bark and berries are usually made into a decoction: brought to a boil in water, then simmered for several minutes. A tincture soaks the herb in an alcohol and water mix, and an extract more broadly means the herb was soaked in a chosen liquid and then used as is or dried for capsules and tablets.

The liquid matters because different plant compounds dissolve in different things. Some come out readily in hot water, others need alcohol. That is one reason a cup of tea and a dropper of tincture made from the same herb are not interchangeable.

Types of herbal extracts

Tinctures (alcohol-based)

A tincture is the classic liquid extract: herb soaked in a blend of alcohol and water, then strained. Labels often state the alcohol percentage and a ratio of herb to liquid. Tinctures are taken in drops or by the dropperful, usually stirred into a little water.

Glycerites (alcohol-free)

A glycerite replaces the alcohol with vegetable glycerin, usually mixed with water. These are sold as "alcohol-free" extracts. They suit people who avoid alcohol for health, religious or personal reasons, and they are an option for children when the label gives children's directions. Glycerites are dosed the same way as tinctures, by drops or dropperfuls in water or juice.

Standardized extracts

Standardization is a manufacturing step meant to make each batch alike. The maker measures one or more marker compounds and adjusts the product so the amount stays the same, producing label wording such as "standardized to 5% withanolides." The ODS adds three cautions worth knowing:

• Ideally the marker is the compound responsible for the herb's effect, but for most herbs nobody knows which compounds those are.
• Standardizing is optional under US law, and the word itself has no legal US definition.
• "Standardized" on a label is not, by itself, a sign of higher quality.

The European Medicines Agency uses stricter categories. It separates "standardised" extracts (adjusted to a stated content of a constituent with known therapeutic activity) from "quantified" extracts (where a constituent is measured and kept within a range) and allows inert excipients to be added only for the former.

Ratio extracts (4:1, 10:1)

A dry extract's ratio describes how much starting herb went into each unit of finished extract. The EMA calls this the drug-extract ratio (DER). Its own example is a valerian root dry extract labeled 4 to 7:1, meaning 4 to 7 parts of dried root yielded 1 part of extract. So a "10:1" extract was made from roughly ten times its weight in herb. A higher ratio means the extract is more concentrated in whatever the solvent drew out, not that it contains ten times "more herb" in every sense: compounds the solvent left behind are not concentrated at all.

Full-spectrum vs isolated compounds

A full-spectrum extract keeps the broad mix of compounds the solvent pulled from the plant. At the other end, a single chemical can be isolated from a plant and sold on its own, usually as a tablet or capsule; the ODS gives soy phytoestrogens as an example. Isolates deliver a precise dose of one compound but leave the rest of the plant behind.

Dried herb powders and teas

Powdered herb is the whole plant part, dried and ground, with nothing removed. Cut herb is used for teas and decoctions. These are the least processed forms and the easiest to buy by weight from our bulk herb section.

How to read an herbal extract label

US labeling rules (21 CFR 101.4 and 101.36) give you more to work with than most people realize. Look for:

• The plant part. Labels must say which part the ingredient comes from, in English, such as root, leaf or flower. Licorice root and licorice leaf are not the same ingredient.
• The Latin name. The Latin binomial is required in parentheses unless the common name is one listed in the standard reference FDA uses. It tells you exactly which species you are buying.
• Fresh or dried starting herb. For liquid extracts, labels must say when the starting plant was fresh and may say when it was dried.
• The herb-to-liquid ratio and solvent. The federal rule's own model is a fresh dandelion root extract written with a weight-to-volume ratio and "in 70% ethanol." A 1:5 ratio means 1 gram of herb per 5 mL of liquid. If part of the solvent is later evaporated, the ratio has to be restated, so a 1:5 extract with half its liquid removed becomes 1:2.5.
• The amount listed. For a liquid extract that still contains its solvent, the amount shown is the whole extract, not just the herb. For a dried extract, it is the weight of the dried extract. Some brands add an "herb equivalency" figure to help you compare.

Dosing is in drops, dropperfuls or mL. Follow each label, since strengths differ between products and drop counts don't carry over from one brand to another. The ODS advises not going above the label amount unless your health care provider tells you to.

When alcohol-free matters

There are good reasons to choose an extract with no alcohol at all:

• Pregnancy. The CDC says there is no known safe amount, time or type of alcohol during pregnancy, or while trying to get pregnant. A glycerite or tea avoids the question, though the herb itself still needs a safety check.
• Children. Use alcohol-free products made and labeled for children, at the labeled amount.
• Alcohol avoidance for recovery, medication, religious or personal reasons.

Quality, testing and storage

Dietary supplements, herbal extracts included, do not need FDA approval before they are sold; the agency can act on unsafe or mislabeled products only once they are on the market (FDA; NCCIH). What FDA does require is good manufacturing practice under 21 CFR Part 111. Among other things, makers must run at least one suitable test to confirm the identity of each dietary ingredient, and must set and check specifications for the finished product's identity, purity, strength and composition and for limits on contaminants. FDA inspects facilities periodically.

Third-party seals from U.S. Pharmacopeia, NSF International and ConsumerLab.com indicate a product was properly made, contains what the label lists and has no harmful levels of contaminants. The ODS notes these seals do not mean a product is safe or effective.

For storage, use the date on the bottle and follow the label. Herb Pharm, for example, tells customers to keep its extracts away from heat and light.

Finally, "natural" does not mean risk-free. Herbs can interact with medicines, and the ODS points out that a concentrated form can carry risks a mild tea does not. Tell your clinician about any extracts you take.

Find it at William's

• Herb Pharm eleuthero glycerite, 1 oz: alcohol-free, made with organic vegetable glycerin and distilled water. See our eleuthero guide for the herb itself.
• Herb Pharm oat seed glycerite (alcohol-free), 1 oz: a glycerite made from fresh, undried oat seed (Avena sativa) grown on Herb Pharm's certified organic farm, at a 1:2 fresh herb to liquid ratio.
• Now organic licorice glycerite (alcohol-free), 2 oz: Now lists 480 mg of herb equivalency per serving. Our licorice extract guide covers licorice safety, which matters with any concentrated form.
• Nature's Answer cayenne tincture, 1 oz: a low-alcohol tincture made with organic alcohol, for people comfortable with an alcohol-based extract.

We also sell many herbs as dried cut herb and powders by weight, if you prefer to make your own teas and decoctions. For an herb-by-herb look, start with our echinacea guide.

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