Preparation of Herbal Drugs
Herbal therapies are usually prepared by grinding or steeping the parts of a plant
that are believed to contain medicinal properties. The ground plant matter is called
the “macerate.” The macerate is soaked in a liquid referred to as the “menstruum”
in order to extract the active ingredients. Herbal infusions are prepared by treating
2.2 Preparation of Herbal Drugs 29
the herb with water or alcohol (ethanol) or mixtures of the two; coarsely bruised
drug boiled in water for a definite period is known as a decoction and tinctures are
solutions of the active principles of the drug in alcohol and water. This extraction
process leads to the production of the herbal preparations in the form of fresh
juice, hot and cold infusions, decoctions, tinctures, pastes, and powders referred to
as “pulverata.” The resulting therapies come in several forms, including oral tab-
lets, capsules, gel caps, extracts, and infusions. Solid or powdered extracts are pre-
pared by evaporation of the solvents used in the process of extraction of the raw
material. Some phytotherapeutic agents are greatly concentrated in order to im-
prove their therapeutic efficacy. In this process, it is possible to remove some sec-
ondary metabolites present in the plants, which may produce undesirable side ef-
fects [40]. The extracts also contain marker compounds which are, by definition,
chemically defined constituents that are of interest for control purposes, indepen-
dent of whether they have any therapeutic activity or not.
Herbal therapies are usually prepared by grinding or steeping the parts of a plant
that are believed to contain medicinal properties. The ground plant matter is called
the “macerate.” The macerate is soaked in a liquid referred to as the “menstruum”
in order to extract the active ingredients. Herbal infusions are prepared by treating
2.2 Preparation of Herbal Drugs 29
the herb with water or alcohol (ethanol) or mixtures of the two; coarsely bruised
drug boiled in water for a definite period is known as a decoction and tinctures are
solutions of the active principles of the drug in alcohol and water. This extraction
process leads to the production of the herbal preparations in the form of fresh
juice, hot and cold infusions, decoctions, tinctures, pastes, and powders referred to
as “pulverata.” The resulting therapies come in several forms, including oral tab-
lets, capsules, gel caps, extracts, and infusions. Solid or powdered extracts are pre-
pared by evaporation of the solvents used in the process of extraction of the raw
material. Some phytotherapeutic agents are greatly concentrated in order to im-
prove their therapeutic efficacy. In this process, it is possible to remove some sec-
ondary metabolites present in the plants, which may produce undesirable side ef-
fects [40]. The extracts also contain marker compounds which are, by definition,
chemically defined constituents that are of interest for control purposes, indepen-
dent of whether they have any therapeutic activity or not.
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