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Mushroom Tincture - Medicinal Mushroom Pp77

Making tinctures is a simple process of extracting active ingredients from medicinal herbs and mushrooms. Chopped dried mushrooms are blended with a menstruum of either 190 proof grain alcohol diluted with water or 80-100 proof vodka. The blended mixture is poured into a jar, where the mushroom fibers sink and the liquid rises above. After shaking daily for two weeks, the clear tincture is bottled. For a double extraction, the spent herb mass is simmered in water after separating the first alcoholic tincture. The water decoction is concentrated and added back to the first tincture, resulting in a preparation richer in immune-activating and anti-tumor polysaccharides.

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79 views1 page

Mushroom Tincture - Medicinal Mushroom Pp77

Making tinctures is a simple process of extracting active ingredients from medicinal herbs and mushrooms. Chopped dried mushrooms are blended with a menstruum of either 190 proof grain alcohol diluted with water or 80-100 proof vodka. The blended mixture is poured into a jar, where the mushroom fibers sink and the liquid rises above. After shaking daily for two weeks, the clear tincture is bottled. For a double extraction, the spent herb mass is simmered in water after separating the first alcoholic tincture. The water decoction is concentrated and added back to the first tincture, resulting in a preparation richer in immune-activating and anti-tumor polysaccharides.

Uploaded by

john mark manuel magalona
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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PREPARING A TINCTURE; MAKING A LIQUID EXTRACT

Making tinctures is a time-honored method of extracting and preserving the active ingredients of
medicinal herbs and mushrooms. When making a tincture, use either 190 proof clear grain
alcohol, if available (called Clear Spring in some places) diluted 50-50 with distilled water for
most fungi, or if it is not available, 80 or 100 proof vodka. To determine the percentage of
ethanol (ethyl alcohol) in a given proof product, divide by two. In other words, a common 80
proof vodka will contain 40% ethyl alcohol. This strength of liquid solvent, which is called the
menstruum, is fine for tincturing many medicinal mushrooms. The process is simple. Place the
chopped up dried mushroom pieces in a blender and cover with the menstruum. Blend until the
consistency is similar to that of a fruit smoothie and pour into a quart or half-gallon canning jar.
After half an hour, a clear one inch of menstruum should appear, and the blended mushroom
fibers and particles should sink into a solid mass at the bottom. Make sure that there is at least an
inch of clear menstruum after settling, so that none of the actual mushroom material sticks up
above the top of the liquid, because fermentation can take place leading to off-flavors in the
finished tincture. Shake the bottle every day and keep it in a warm place out of the direct
sunlight. After two weeks, squeeze as much of the liquid from the mushroom mass as possible
and bottle the mostly clear tincture. This liquid can then be stored in a canning jar or other
suitable glass container for future use. It will retain its potency for two to three years. This type
of tincture is a simple single liquid extraction, and it should contain a good amount of the major
active constituents.
My favorite method of creating a liquid extract of dried mushrooms for tonic long-term use is to
make a double extraction. For this, the first liquid extract is separated from the extracted (or
“spent”) herb mass, which is called the “marc.” Set the alcoholic tincture aside and then simmer
(decoct) the marc in five times its volume of distilled water for an hour. Let the brew cool and
then filter and squeeze as much of the water from the marc as possible. Compost this last marc,
and begin simmering the watery decoction under low heat. Evaporate this to about one-fifth its
original voume, and add enough of this concentrate to the first alcoholic tincture so that the final
concentration of alcohol is at least 20-25%, which is needed to preserve the preparation. Some
measuring is needed, but this can be calculated by knowing the approximate alcoholic percentage
in the first tincture. I feel, based on my experience, that this “double extraction” is richer in the
immune-activating and anti-tumor polysaccharides, as well as the protein-bound polysaccharides
and will be more tonifying than the original alcoholic preparation. Simmering the herb in water
may soften and break down cell walls, releasing immune-strengthening high molecular-weight
polysaccharides.

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