Tincture

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This article is about alcoholic liquids. For the colors used in a coat of arms, see tincture (heraldry).

In medicine, a tincture is an alcoholic extract (e.g. of a herb) or solution of a non-volatile substance; e.g. of iodine, mercurochrome ). To qualify as a tincture, the alcoholic extract is to have a ethanol percentage of at least 40-60% (sometimes a 90% percent pure liquid is even achieved). ^[1]. Solutions of volatile substances were called spirits, although that name was also given to several other materials obtained by distillation, even when they did not include alcohol.

Contents 1 General method of preparation 2 Examples of tinctures 3 See also 4 References 5 External links

[edit] General method of preparation

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A general method of preparation on how tinctures can be prepared is the following ^[2]:

• Herbs are put in a jar and a spirit of 40°C pure ethanol is added
• The jar is closed and left to stand for 2-3 weeks. It is shaken every once in a while.

To make a more precise tincture, more extensive measuring can be done by combining 1 part herbs with a water-ethanol mixture of 2-10 parts, depending on the herb itself. With most tinctures however, 1 part water at 5 parts ethanol is used. ^[3]

[edit] Examples of tinctures

Some examples that were formerly common in medicine^{[citation needed]} include:

• Tincture of Benzoin
• Tincture of cantharides
• Tincture of ferric citrochloride (a chelate of citric acid and Iron(III) chloride)
• Tincture of green soap (which also contains lavender)
• Tincture of guaiac
• Tincture of iodine
• Tincture of opium (laudanum)
• Camphorated opium tincture (paregoric)
• Tincture of Pennyroyal

Examples of spirits include:

• Spirit of ammonia (also called spirit of hartshorn)
• Spirit of box, or ethanol, which was derived from the destructive distillation of boxwood
• Spirit of camphor
• Spirit of ether, a solution of diethyl ether in alcohol
• "Spirit of Mindererus", ammonium acetate in alcohol
• "Spirit of nitre" is not a spirit in this sense, but an old name for nitric acid (but "sweet spirit of nitre" was ethyl nitrite)
• Similarly "spirit of salt" actually meant hydrochloric acid,
• "Spirit of vinegar" was glacial acetic acid and
• "Spirit of vitriol" was sulfuric acid.
• "Spirit of wine" or "spirits of wine" is an old name for alcohol (especially food grade alcohol derived from the distillation of wine)
• "Spirit of wood" means methanol, often derived from the destructive distillation of wood

[edit] See also

• Nalewka - a traditional Polish category of alcoholic tincture.
• infusion - a water or oil based extract with similar historical uses to a tincture.
• Elixir - A pharmaceutical preparation containing an active ingredient that is dissolved in a solution containing some percentage of ethyl alcohol.
• Extract
• Another name for Tiffany Perkins, sister of T.J. Perkins

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• How to make a tincture