Glycerite vs. Tincture: What the Difference Is
A glycerite extracts a plant into vegetable glycerin and water instead of alcohol and water. It is sweet, alcohol-free, and weaker: glycerin draws out the water-soluble constituents well, the resins and essential oils poorly, and it preserves for one to two years where a tincture keeps for five or more. A tincture is the stronger and more complete extract and the one the monographs mean when they give a dose in millilitres. A glycerite is the preparation for a child, for a person who does not take alcohol, for the throat and mouth, and for the plants whose virtue is in their water-soluble parts.
What each solvent takes from the plant
Alcohol at 45 percent draws out flavonoids, glycosides, alkaloids, bitters, and a good share of the essential oils, and at 90 percent the resins. Glycerin at 60 percent in water takes the tannins, mucilage, flavonoids, sugars, and some alkaloids, and holds them stably, but it leaves most of the resin and volatile oil in the marc. The plants that come across well are the demulcents and astringents and the mild nervines: Marshmallow root, Althaea officinalis; Elderberry, Sambucus nigra; Chamomile, Matricaria chamomilla; Lemon Balm, Melissa officinalis; Catnip, Nepeta cataria; Raspberry leaf, Rubus idaeus; Hawthorn berry, Crataegus monogyna. The plants that do not are the resinous and aromatic: Myrrh, Commiphora myrrha; Calendula, Calendula officinalis, as a resin extract; and the alkaloid-heavy roots such as Goldenseal, Hydrastis canadensis, for which the tincture or the powder is the form.
Glycerin has one property alcohol lacks. It is itself demulcent, soothing to mucous membrane, and sweet without being a sugar, which makes it the right vehicle for a throat preparation such as Sage, Salvia officinalis, or Thyme, Thymus vulgaris, and for a children's formula.
Ratio, strength, and keeping
A glycerite is made by the same weight-to-volume method as a tincture. The standard for a dried herb is 1:5 in a menstruum of 60 percent glycerin and 40 percent water; anything below about 55 percent glycerin is not reliably preserved. A fresh plant is made at 1:2 in pure glycerin, since the plant's water does the diluting. Maceration is four to six weeks, or the sealed jar stands in a water bath at a low simmer for two or three days, which is the faster way through glycerin's thickness. Some makers add 10 percent alcohol to the menstruum to help the extraction and the keeping; the result is then a glycerite in name only for a person who avoids alcohol altogether.
A 1:5 tincture at 45 percent alcohol keeps five years or more in amber glass; a 1:5 glycerite keeps one to two years, and is discarded when it clouds, ferments, or grows mould at the surface. A glycerite is refrigerated once opened in a warm climate.
Dose
Because glycerin extracts less, a glycerite is given at the same volume as a tincture or somewhat more, and it is understood to be the weaker medicine. The usual adult dose is 3 to 5 millilitres, three times a day; a child's dose is scaled by weight, and the usual working rule is a quarter of the adult dose for a child of 20 kilograms and a half for a child of 40. The sweetness means a child takes it neat or in a spoon of water without protest, which is its whole advantage.
| Point of comparison | Tincture, 1:5 in 45 percent | Glycerite, 1:5 in 60 percent glycerin |
|---|---|---|
| Extracts | flavonoids, glycosides, alkaloids, bitters, oils; resins at 90 percent | tannins, mucilage, flavonoids, sugars, some alkaloids |
| Shelf life | five years or more | one to two years |
| Adult dose | 2 to 5 ml, three times daily | 3 to 5 ml, three times daily |
| Taste | bitter, hot with the spirit | sweet, thick |
| Suits | most plants; the resins; roots and barks | children; the throat; alcohol-free formulas; demulcent and astringent plants |
Where the choice matters
For a potent plant the tincture is the only form, since the dose must be known and the extraction complete: Valerian, Valeriana officinalis, made at 1:5 in 60 percent alcohol for its oils; Lobelia, Lobelia inflata, at 1:10. For a plant with a drug interaction the interaction is the plant's, not the solvent's, and a glycerite of St John's Wort, Hypericum perforatum, lowers the blood levels of oral contraceptives and antidepressants as the tincture does, if it has extracted the hyperforin at all, which glycerin does poorly. For Elderberry the glycerite and the syrup are the two forms in common use, and the syrup, made with honey or sugar, is the older of the two and the sweeter.
The third alcohol-free extract is the acetum, the plant macerated in cider vinegar at 1:5, which extracts minerals and alkaloids reasonably, keeps about a year, and is dosed at a tablespoon in water. Fire cider is an acetum.
Not medical advice.