Further Preparation

Extraction

For a healing remedy to be made from a plant, the active substances must be extracted from the plant.  The simplest form of extraction by maceration, i.e. following inspection on arrival and determination of the water content, the freshly harvested healing plants are chopped and put into a mixture of alcohol and water.  The amount of alcohol used is precisely balanced to match the plant and also the extraction medium.

• Tinctures are extracts made using drinking alcohol in varying degrees of concentration.
• We use exclusively drinking alcohol, which does not cause denaturisation.
• We avoid using other potentially toxic or poisonous solvents even though these would be permitted in law.
• The alcohol content, which varies with each individual plant, releases more active substances from the plants than water or plant oil.
• The finished tincture contains the maximum amount of effective natural ingredients.

Production step by step

For the production of a fresh plant tincture, the plants are chopped up and put into an alcohol and water mixture (Extraction).

• To determine the amount of alcohol necessary for extraction, the amount of water already present in the fresh plants is taken into account.
• The mixture is then put into alcohol – for between several hours to fourteen days depending on the type of plant – and stirred at regular intervals.
• In this way as many of the active ingredients as possible are released from the plant material. Immediately after complete extraction, the tincture is pressed.
• For every plant we apply the optimum extraction conditions.  Certain plants we put straight into the alcohol and water mixture, i.e. without prior cutting. With others the extraction is stopped after a set period to avoid constituents being broken down during extraction.
• The residue that accumulates from the pressing process following extraction is composted and thus recycled.
• We focus on quality control: the tincture is subjected to extensive analysis and stored in quarantine until release.

Tinctures

A.Vogel tinctures contain the maximum amount of soluble constituents of a herbal remedy.

• They are, on the one hand, finished medicines, e.g. A.Vogel Echinaforce® - and are also used as the source material for various other A.Vogel products.
• By mixing different tinctures according to the recipes of Alfred Vogel, complex preparations are produced such as Milk Thistle Complex /Boldocynara.
• Tinctures are carefully concentrated under vacuum and used for the production of tablets such as Echinaforce® tablets.
• Tinctures are added to other products, e.g. Drosinula Cough Syrup, Po-Ho Ointment and Echinacea Toothpaste.