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Beth Reyes
I am attempting to make Oat straw Tincture for the first time. My research is also showing Milky Oats Tincture? Would it be beneficial to combine the Milky Oats and the Oat Straw together in a tincture? Or are they better to make separately? Would you dry the oats first or make them fresh?
Thank you!
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Geneva Bivens
Hi Beth,
Oat Straw (Avena sativa) is also known as Milky Oats. 🙂
You can tincture it fresh, or dried.
If you’re tincturing it fresh, I would use Everclear. Herb / Menstrum ratio of 1:2.
You might want to check out the Herbal Medicine Making module section that covers tincturing. You can find that here https://homesteadacademy.com/courses/homegrown-herbalist/sections/herbal-medicine-making/lessons/making-herbal-medicines-lesson-4-tinctures-glycerites-vinegars/
Happy tincture making!
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Thank you Geneva! I appreciate the help. 🙂
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You’re welcome Beth! 🙂
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Jean
This is perfect. I just harvested milky oats. I think I can put them in the freezer (for another purpose) or I can tincture them right now. 1:2 ratio would be one part herb to 2 parts alcohol. The alcohol will be 75% alcohol or higher because the milky oats are fresh. Since the oats are fresh there is water and water would lower the alcohol content of lower percentages of alcohol. With that all said, I have read where 75% alcohol would extract some of the minerals and 100% alcohol would extract the anti-depressant chemicals of the plant. This is where its a little confusing to me. I am thinking a double extraction would be an alcohol extraction and a water extraction. Not sure which you would do first off the top of my head (water extraction or alcohol extraction) Anyway, the minerals are important (to me) I am just thinking out loud here. Wondering if I am thinking straight at all. Want to get this done tonight or they will go in the freezer until I know for sure what I am doing.
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I think I make life harder then it should be. Realized this morning that if I want to extract minerals from milky oats, all I would have to do is make a tea.
But, I further complicated matters by drying the milky oats at 95 degree’s for more then one day. I dont know how to find out if something has been over dried or not. So, I guess if I tincture the dried milky oats, I probably wont need to use 75% alcohol.
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Kathleen
From what I’ve read Oatstraw and Milky oats are from the same plant but that Milky Oats is tinctured and Oatstraw is made into a decoction. But I know that the Homegrown herbalist shop sells an oatstraw tincture. Any comments? If an oatstraw tincture is good enough for Doc Jones it’s good enough for me!
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Yes, same plant. Before the oats makes a seed head, there’s about a week where the seed head is in a “milky oats” phase. That is when you harvest for “milky oats” Once the oats is removed from the plant, what is left is (green) oat straw.
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And should the Milky Oats be tinctured and the Oatstraw be made into a decoction? That’s my confusion since that what I keep reading in many resources.
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Kathleen, the above is very informative.
Remember: “The plant is the medicine” How you take it in depends on things like, how soon you need it, what form of the plant you have (fresh or dried etc.) If you need it on a daily basis. If you travel a lot and need it. etc. Fresh plants require stronger alcohol content then dried. Either fresh or dried can be used in a tea. Decoctions are usually for roots and tough plant matter. Some people do an over night steep. More as I can.
Edited to say: Kathleen, you can work with the top part of the whole plant. The stalk might have more silica then the milky oats and the milky oats will have other medicinal qualities. When I did buy some dried, both parts were included.
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This reply was modified 8 months, 2 weeks ago by
Jean.
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This reply was modified 8 months, 2 weeks ago by
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This reply was modified 8 months, 2 weeks ago by
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Thanks Jean. I know that there are some plants that shouldn’t be made into tinctures (Rose Hips comes to mind because the tincture destroys the Vitamin C). I was curious as to why I see so many reference to Milky Oats being made into a tincture and Oat Straw only being made into a decoction.
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This reply was modified 8 months, 2 weeks ago by
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Never knew that Vitamin C is destroyed via tincture method. Very interesting. Thank you. Regarding Milky Oats and Oat Straw being treated differently. My guess is that I think minerals are extracted easier with water and other chemicals are extracted better via alcohol. So, I guess one would have to learn what is available in the plant, then determine which element is more desirable. Then determine which extraction method is best to get said element. Who knew Milky Oats could be so complicated. 🙂
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I thought that I learned about Rose Hips from Doc Jones but I can’t find the info. I did find this from another herbalist “The solubility of ascorbic acid is greater in water and less in ethanol.” So my saying the vitamin C is DESTROYED may be a bit harsh.
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Kathleen, this will help us both out! I found it when I was looking up herbs for dogs.
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Hi again Kathleen. To my knowledge ascorbic acid is a part of the vitamin C structure. Real vitamin C is made up of more then ascorbic acid. An analogy would be like, a steering wheel is part of a car. Ascorbic acid is a part of vitamin C (and I think a very small part) To my knowledge most bought “ascorbic acid” is synthetic and comes from out side of the country. Rose hips being natural has all of the components of real vitamin C. This is why you can take a natural form of whole vitamin C and sometimes it works way better then the monstrous amount of synthetic vit C so many are taking. I guess it depends on if the ascorbic acid tested with alcohol was real ascorbic acid or synthetic ascorbic acid. I would have no idea. Not sure what I would do with 1000 steering wheels. Not much good to me without the rest of the parts. (I am being silly)
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So much to learn!! Thanks for your feedback.
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Yes, I wish we had grown up with this all!
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Ha! That kind of leads me back to my original question which was “can you tincture Oat STRAW”. And I found in oatstraw tincture on the homegrown herbalist shop but NO information online about tincturing the straw, only found info on tincturing the milky oat TOPS.
Anyway, I’ve now tinctured the oatstraw and I guess I’ll tincture the last of my rose hips I collected last winter.
Thanks for hanging in there with me!
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Absolutely no problem, Kathleen. I think when people tincture oats, they have both parts in it. As I am pretty sure Doctor Jones takes the whole top portion of the plant (seed and straw part) both. As other’s do as well. I was so excited to get my own home grown milky oats I just took the seed heads and left the rest. I am sure I have missed out on some nutrition by doing that. Oh well, live and learn. Re: Rose Hips: Good for you!
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Brenda Morgan
This is great information, I have been wondering about milk oats vs. oat straw.
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Dr. Patrick Jones
Milky oats and oat straw are the same thing. Just different names in the trade. When the oats are milky, harvest the top 25-30% of the plant and tincture it all. They aren’t two separate components.
Don't use herbs or combine herbs with medications or use them during lactation or pregnancy without talking with your healthcare provider.
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Thank You Dr. Jones. (It seems to strange to me that one part has a milky substance in it and the other does not seem to have a milky substance in it.) but both would carry the same nutritives?
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Different parts will have some variations in constituents but the research on the plant and its historical uses are of the whole, not just it’s parts.
Don't use herbs or combine herbs with medications or use them during lactation or pregnancy without talking with your healthcare provider.
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I’m very thankful for your knowledge and that you share it so willingly with all of us! God bless!
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