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The Dry Tinctures from Medicinal Plants

Table No. 1

*)    Changes in volume. Contact time: 24 hours. Solvents are listed in order of decreasing polarity. DMF - dimethylformamide

Dry bead cellulose is a regenerated cellulose with low and medium porosity, with a heterogenous nature, partly microcrystallic. 

Polymer structure is stabilized by only hydrogen bonds, there are no covalent cross-linkings.

Basic Characteristics

This cellulose is not noxious for health, it is proper not only as a part of food additives, but it has already been used in the past as a medicinal powder with bound chymoptrypsin (Deshisan®) ^1,2,3.

One possibility how to use reswelling ability of bead cellulose is its use for the preparation of dry tinctures from medicinal plants. Commonly classic tinctures are prepared by extraction of a medicinal plant in water-ethanol solution. At home usually ethylalcohol can be replaced by some distillate (vodka, plum-brandy, whisky etc.). Medicinal plants can also be extracted into acetone-water solution and after filtration the pure clear extract can by sucked into a proper material. In our case dry bead celulose can be used. After the solvent is fully evaporated, the dry tincture is proper for consumption.

This way of dry tincture preparation takes us the possibility how to prepare a tincture without alcohol. Here we use the very good reswelling ability of dry bead cellulose in water and organic solvents or in their mixtures.

In our case we can for example extract the plant medicinal drug in acetone-water solution and this solution can be then sucked into the dry bead cellulose. After the excess solution is sucked off and the cellulose is dried at 40 °C, we gain a dry tincture containing effective matters from the medicinal plant, which were originally in the solution. Only solvents (acetone and water) were evaporated. This dry tincture has got such an advantage that efficient matters from the medicinal plant evolve slowly and therefore this type of tincture gives a prolonged activity.

In this way several dry tinctures were prepared, especially from the following medicinal plants:

GOTUKOLA            Centella asiatica L. Urban 
LAPACHO               Tatebuia impetiginosa
ELEUTHEROCOC   Eleutherococcus senticocus
TRIBULUS               Tribulus terrestris
SCHISANDRA        Schisandra chinensis.

For illustration the procedure how the prepare dry tincture from GOTUKOLA follows.

The extract from the dry plant (Centella asiatica L. Urban) was prepared as follows:

Into the solution containing 500 ml of acetone (p.a. purity) and 250 ml of demineralized water, 50 g of dry plant (GOTUKOLA - Centella asiatica L. Urban) were added. This mixture was standing for 14 days, during this time it was from time to time shaked. After that the mixture was filtered through a medium density paper filter and the resulting solution was kept in a dark bottle at room temperature.

Dry tincture was prepared as follows: 

100 g of dry bead cellulose (particle size 75-150 microns) were added into 140 ml of the above described gotukola extract, while mixing. This mixture was stirred for 4 hours. After this time the suspension was sucked off on the Buchner funnel and the volume of sucked liquid was measured (42 ml). The sucking took 90 min. The cellulose, originally classic filtration cake, was becoming loose and finally it was fully loose. After last traces of acetone were removed, the cellulose was dried at 40 °C for 1 hour. Final cellulose was fully loose, of light green colour, it smelled very pleasant. The yield of the cellulose was 122 .

1 gram of dry bead cellulose takes                            0.98 ml of gotukola extract.

1 gram of final dry tincture contains                            0.80 ml of gotukola extract.

With regards to the fact that macroporous bead cellulose is not crosslinked, it is completely not noxious. Its natural character does not cause any difficulties to our digestive tract.

In case of interest we can provide small samples of this tincture free of charge.

References:

1.    Štovickova J.: "Porovnání efektivnosti sušení perlové celulosy s navázaným chymotrypsinem lyofilizací a ve vznosu", Seminary II: "Bead Cellulose" Karlovy Vary 1988

2.    Turkova J., Vejcnar J., Vancurova D., Stamberg J.: "Immobilization of Properties on bead cellulose", Collection Czech. Chem. Commun., 44, 3411-3417 (1979)

3.    Stovickova J., Turkova J., Bazant V., Kavalirova I.: "A Comparison of Drying of Chymotrypsin  bound to bead cellulose by lyofilisation and in air stream at 25° to 75 °C", Biotechnology Techniques Vol. 2, No. 2, pp 121-126 (1988)