Glycerite

A traditional glycerite is a fluid extract of an herb or other medicinal substance made using glycerin as the majority of the fluid extraction medium.

According to King's American Dispensatory (1898), glycerite is:

Glycerita.—Glycerites. By this class of preparations is generally understood solutions of medicinal substances in glycerin, although in certain instances the various Pharmacopoeias deviate to an extent. The term Glycerita as here applied to fluid glycerines, or solutions of agents in glycerin, is preferable to the ordinary names, "glyceroles," "glycerates," or "glycemates," etc., and includes all fluid preparations of the kind referred to, whether for internal administration or local application.

Glycerites may consist of either vegetable source glycerin, animal source glycerin or a combination of the two. In the case of liquid herbal products (a segment of the dietary supplements industry), the general rule is to utilize vegetable glycerin only, while nutraceuticals (another segment of the dietary supplements industry) might use a combination of both vegetable and animal source derived glycerin.

A modern glycerite recently developed by a European research facility associated with aquaculture and fish bait preparations now includes botanical, fish and animal components (valued for its medicinal or therapeutic properties, flavor, and/or scent.) Such glycerites have a low glycemic load and are reputed to have antifreeze properties to -46.5 (°C) with an estimated shelf-life in excess of 20 years.

Some modern liquid botanical manufacturing endeavors utilize so called 'dynamic", truly alcohol-free (e.g. no alcohol (i.e. ethanol) ever used) glycerite manufacturing technologies resulting in high extractive potential. Such glycerites are a distinct and differentiated category of products, possessing unique properties and qualities.

It is now a well established fact that 'finished' glycerites that contain an adequate concentration of glycerin, approaching 70%, do not allow for microbial growth, and in fact are excellent microbial suppressants, even after opening. These are considered "self-preserving" formulations. This has been verified by a FDA Registered, cGMP compliant, Kosher certified commercial endeavor that produces glycerites listing a 4 year expiration date on product labels for their product - with no refrigeration required after opening (they have 'original' samples now over 30 years old, opened every 5 years for analysis, with preservability, stability, purity and intrinsic quality factors still intact).

Glycerol, when utilized in a 'passive' non-critical fashion, such as with tincturing, is generally considered a weaker solvent than either water or ethanol. It is nearly as polar as water, and a larger molecule than either water or ethanol. The same intermolecular forces that cause glycerol to be relatively thick, viscous, and dense at low temperatures, decrease its overall ability to passively extract and dissolve molecules from medicinal raw materials. When utilized in a traditional passive tincture method glycerites tend to result in much weaker than simple ethanol extracts. In addition, glycerol extracts specific kinds and amounts of chemical compounds. This behavior in a non-critical/non-dynamic state is primarily determined by glycerol's polarity, hydrogen bonding characteristics, and intermolecular forces, all of which determine its rate of mass transfer.

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