Herbalism is a field of study known to humans from ages. The beneficial action of many plants has been used for medical and caring purposes from the time immemorial. Despite the knowledge concerning herbs that humans posses, it’s worth realizing how to make a good use of the plants so as to get the most of them.

Depending on a herb and the properties we want to extract from it, various plants have to be prepared in different ways. What has to be taken into consideration is the kind of the active substances present in a particular herb and the degree of solubility in water. Only then can you choose the most appropriate manner of preparing the herbs at home.

Liquid herb-based infusions are necessary to prepare, for example, homemade hair washes or liquid hair conditioners. They can be made in a few ways.

What are the methods of preparing herbal extracts?

Brew

The brew is nothing more but the liquid obtained by covering herbs with boiling water. In most cases, it’s prepared in this manner, although it’s also possible to heat up herbs thrown to water. Best if it’s done in a water bath. Such a procedure should last 5-10 minutes. Despite the method applied, the effect remains the same – you obtain the brew that is ready to use once cooled down. What’s important though, the brew must be used up the very same day.

Decoction

Although decoction is prepared in almost identical way as the brew, it’s suggested using herbs that are resistant to high temperatures. Chop the herbs and cover them with water of room temperature. Bring it to boil over low heat. The plants that contain easy-soluble substances must be boiled shorter, whereas those resistant or very hard (bark, roots) a bit longer.

Brew-Decoction

The combination of the methods mentioned above has its application in water extracts made of two types of herbs (of different temperature resistance). Therefore, the first step is preparing decoction from herbs that need to be boiled. The second step depends on covering the remaining herbs with the decoction.

Macerate

The least popular are herbal macerates, which are the extracts prepared with the use of cold water. When is it advisable to make the macerate? Basically, when we deal with herbs containing a kind of slime. This type of herbs has to be covered with lukewarm water (the water has to be boiled up first) and left at room temperature for up to 10 hours. Once strained and squeezed, the macerate is ready. What’s important, the macerate has to be used up the same day when prepared. The plants that don’t puff up fast or that are hard in general, can be boiled up and after 2 hours of maceration set aside again for another 6-8 hours.