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Herbal extracts can be made with either alcohol or glycerin. Home herbalists often have lots of questions about the difference between these two types of herbal extracts. So what’s the difference? Why choose one over the other? Which one is stronger? Is alcohol better than glycerin for making herbal extracts? Today I’m explaining alcohol vs glycerin extract for better herbal tinctures.
Actually, these are just two of several choices when extracting herbs with liquids. Known as menstruums, these liquids include water, alcohol, glycerin, vinegar, or even wine- and any combination thereof!
Experimenting with recipes using various menstruums is a good way to learn more about the chemistry that’s going on behind the scenes when you make herbal extracts. Alcohol and glycerin extracts, though, are by far the most commonly used. Let’s investigate further!
Glycerin
What is glycerin, anyway? Within the alcohol vs glycerin extract debate, it’s popular for individuals who need an ethanol free alternative. It’s a clear, thick, liquid with a sweet taste, made by breaking down fat or oil (like lard or vegetable oil). Most commonly, glycerin is a byproduct of soap making.
Everyone typically thinks of glycerin as a very different substance than ethanol, and in some ways it is. You can look at it or taste it and see that for yourself.
But technically, for chemistry purposes, glycerin is an alcohol! Whoa, crazy, right? Other names include glycerol or glyceric alcohol. Even though it’s sweet tasting, it doesn’t contain sugar and won’t raise blood sugar levels.
Let’s look at the basics of glycerin in a few bullet points.
- Less extractive ability than ethanol
- Weaker isn’t necessarily a drawback (may be better for children or elderly)
- Less range as a solvent than ethanol
- Not as much preservative power as ethanol
- More palatable than ethanol – tastes sweet
- Doesn’t dissolve or mix with resins
- Stable when heated
- Often used when an “alcohol-free” option is needed (although teas are stronger)
- Not very good at extracting most alkaloids
Glycerin is a popular choice when making herbal extracts for children. However, there is a bit to be desired when compared with alcohol extracts. It doesn’t pull out as many different types of constituents as alcohol. Constituents are the chemical building blocks that make an herb useful, so having a well-rounded profile of constituents is usually a good thing. Glycerin thus makes a weaker preparation, and the shelf life is much shorter (usually not more than a year, if that).
One excellent thing about glycerin is that it’s really good at extracting tannins. This is useful if you are honing your advanced formulation skills. Alkaloids and tannins neutralize each other when both are present in a formula. Add glycerin as part of the menstruum, and it acts as a buffer to keep that from happening.
Alcohol
So, technically, the alcohol we are talking about here is ethanol aka ethyl alcohol. That’s the drinkable kind that’s in vodka, wine, beer, etc. When you make an herbal extract you are using a combination of ethanol and water.
Don’t try to make herbal extracts with rubbing alcohol (isopropyl alcohol)- rubbing alcohol is toxic. Isopropyl alcohol makes good topical liniments. Just be sure to clearly label them for external use only.
Vodka is a common extracting menstruum for herbalists to use because it’s cheap and readily available. 80 proof vodka is 40% ethanol, 100 proof is 50%.
Higher-proof spirits also make good extracts. Remember that you need at least 20% ethanol to preserve your extract. Interesting fact: a 50/50 mixture of pure ethanol and water is dilute alcohol for chemistry purposes. Here are a few bullet points for alcohol extracts:
- Good general solvent- extracts most things
- Not good at extracting resins and mucilage by itself
- Preserves preparations almost indefinitely
- Inactivates enzymes that would cause the extract to change over time
- Helps control chemical decomposition
- Mixes well with water and/or glycerin
- Not heat stable. Flammable, so store carefully.
Ethanol, by itself, is a good general solvent and extracts most things. It’s not very good at extracting minerals, gums, or mucilage (“gooey” herbs like marshmallow root or slippery elm). However, herbal extracts aren’t made with pure ethanol, so water takes up some of the slack and makes ethanol based extracts the winner regarding strength, range of constituents, and preservative prowess.
Alcohol vs Glycerin
When it comes down to it, ethanol-based extracts come out the winner here. In terms of health consequences of glycerin vs alcohol, unless you need to avoid ingesting all alcohol, period, there’s not much of a case for being worried about the amount of ethanol found in an herbal extract. Ethanol is naturally found in ripe fruit, so our bodies are used to dealing with a little ethanol on a regular basis.
According to The Herbal Medicine Maker’s Handbook, 20 drops of an herbal extract (60% ethanol) 3 times a day is less than 1/30th of an ounce of alcohol, so you aren’t consuming very much at all. If you like using glycerin extracts and they work well for you, then hey- rock on. But if you want higher potency and better shelf life, stick with alcohol.
Resources and Further Reading
Are you interested in learning more about the chemistry behind herbalism and the art of making herbal extracts? I highly recommend getting a few good books on the subject! My three favorites (and the ones I used to double-check my info when I wrote this article) are The Herbal Medicine Maker’s Handbook by James Green; A Clinical Guide to Blending Liquid Herbs by Kerry Bone; and Medical Herbalism: The Science and Practice of Herbal Medicine by David Hoffman.
Looking for other types of alcohol-free herbal recipes? You might like my article, Alcohol-Free Herbs for the Home Apothecary.
