Herbal Bytes all herbs
Eluethero Herb
All dried herbs are sensitive to heat, light, oxygen and water. Herbs have to be stored in airtight glass containers to retain their freshness, to stop humidity, which leads to molding. In addition, the herb's constituents can dissipate into the air rendering them ineffective.
Do NOT store any plant material in oil since botulism can occur under these conditions.
Storing Dried Herbs
Amber glass jars are excellent for storing your herbs. If you cannot find any, you can store your herbs in any glass jar, paper bags or plastic bags that are not airtight (plastic fumes will contaminate herbs). As soon as you place your herbs in a glass container, do label them with a sticker that has the name of the herb and the date written on it.
Herbs may react with metals and oxidize, so it's a good idea to prevent your herbs from touching any metal surfaces, especially while making tea. It's also recommended you avoid the use of tin cans to store your herbs.
Herbs will slowly lose their potency, no matter how or where they're stored, so refresh between 8 months to one year. Once they've lost their potency, they're useless.
Storing Tinctures
Normally tinctures are purchased in dark glass bottles, so store them away from the sun light in a dark cool place, as they contain alcohol they do not need refrigeration. If your tincture is not made with alcohol, follow the recommendation on the label.
Alcohol tinctures last 4 to 5 years if stored correctly, but refer to the expiration date on the label to be sure.
Salves, Creams and Difused Oils
These types of herbal remedies are more prone to lose their properties or become rancid and/or spoiled. You must be sure to refer to the labels expiration date. If there is no expiration date use your senses of smell first - if it smells bad in any way, toss it. Also utlize your sense of sight to look at the product and see if there is any separation of the ingredients.
If any uncertainty exists, discard. Following is a basic time table for normal expiration time of well made products. Remember ultimately, the ingredients, quality and the manufacturing process of the product determines the shelf life.
- Salves: 2 years
- Creams: 2 years
- Infused Oils: 1 year
DISCLAIMER: These pages are presented solely as a source of INFORMATION and ENTERTAINMENT and to provide stern warnings against use where appropriate. No claims are made for any historical herbal treatment. In no way can the information provided here take the place of the standard, legal, medical practice of any country. Some plants are extremely toxic and should be used only by licensed professionals. Some plants used for illness in the past have proven to be ineffective for the problems to which they were applied.