heating herbs

[AnnettStudent]

I’ve had a few people ask me lately if you need to heat herbs to extract some of the medicinal properties. I always say heating destroys medicine as Doc as taught. But I keep coming across things that say to put herbs in oil and then set it in the windowsill for a couple of weeks or to boil bark pieces for a certain period of time and then to use the medicine. Could someone tell me the exceptions there are to heating herbs. (For instance, I did learn that elderberries keep their medicinal properties when made into a syrup for a cold remedy which requires simmering for a while.) Other exceptions?

[Dr. Patrick JonesHomestead Instructor]

It all depends on the chemical constituents you want. The anti-flu properties of elderberry, for example, could care less about heat. The anit-inflammatory properties of aucubin (found in many plants) is destroyed by heat.

I teach to errr on the side of caution. Warming an infused oil in in a window sill, in a brown paper bag is fine for most things. Doing a tea where you throw the herbs in boiling water and then pull it off the heat immediately is fine for most herbs. Simmering herbs for a long time (decoction) is fine for many herbs and completely destructive for others.

In the old days, they used to do a lot of decoction. Decoction is used for tough, woody material like roots or bark. These days, when we have nice blenders that can powder anything, there is no reason to do decoctions…just do teas.

Don't use herbs or combine herbs with medications or use them during lactation or pregnancy without talking with your healthcare provider.

[Bembry]

In general, labs use heat to sterilize reagents as chemicals may have undesirable reactions with the reagents. You can also dry out the herbs without heat using a fan and blowing air across them, which will make the herbs not prone to rotting.

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