Clarification on spagyrics/calcination and tinctures 1

[Guest guest]

I've noticed on fair amount of confusion on the nature of spagyrics

and how tinctures, spagyric or otherwise, are prepared. Here are a

few notes that people could find helpfull.

 

Let's begin with tinctures;

 

Tinctures are concentrated herbal medicines made by infusing plant

material in a solvent for several weeks until certain constituents of

the plant are extracted into the solvent which is called a menstruum.

 

Menstruums for tinctures are usually water, alcohol, vegetable

glycerine or vinegar. Each of these solvents has preservative

properties. The benefits of tinctures are many. They have a long shelf

life, they are concentrated, easy to take, convenient for travel and

they capture the potency of fresh plant material which can be used at

any time of the year whether or not the plant is in season.

 

Plant Chemistry; phytochemicals and solvents

 

There are a variety of solvents used as extraction agents for

phytochemicals; water, alcohol, glycerine, vinegar, oils(fixed and

volitile) & fats, organic acids, ethers, caustics, mineral acids,

metabolic fluids (plant and animal) and various combinations of the

above. We will be concerning ourselves with the following;

 

water, alcohol, glycerine, vinegar, oils(fixed and volatile) & fats.

 

 

 

From;http://www.inform.umd.edu/EdRes/Colleges/LFSC/life_sciences/.plant_biology/\

Medicinals/pharmacognosy2.html.

I've added a few comments

CONTENT:

 

AMINO ACIDS

CARBOHYDRATES

LIPIDS

ALKALOIDS

VOLATILE OILS

STEROIDAL COMPOUNDS

TERPENOIDS

PHENOLS

GLYCOSIDES

 

 

 

 

 

 

AMINO ACIDS

 

In plants, amino acids are broken down into two groups, protein, and

non-protein. Most protein is water and dilute alcohol soluble. There

are twenty proteins, derived from the acid hydrolysates of plant

proteins (as with animal proteins). Plant proteins are essential for

carrying out specific cellular functions both internally and

externally. Plant proteins are seed-based store-houses for nitrogen

and guard against would-be predators. Some are toxic to humans, some

are of daily necessity in the human diet. Some, furthermore, have been

developed into specific drugs: L-Dopa, from fava beans and other

Fabaceae/Leguminosae, is used in the treatment of Parkinson's disease;

L-Cysteine, found in all plants, is used in eye drops and topical

antibiotics. L-Arganine stimulates the pituitary gland to release

growth hormone. L-Aspartic acid is present in coffee, liquorice, sugar

cane, sugar beet, and is neuro-excitatory. It is the phytochemical

responsible for so-called 'sugar highs,' and is in aspartame

(Harborne, 61-67).

 

 

CARBOHYDRATES AND RELATED COMPOUNDS

 

Plant energy storage components are referred to as carbohydrates. The

group which the term carbohydrates represents includes mono-(sucrose,

lactose, etc.), and poly-(starch, inulin) saccharides, some acids

which are produced after cellular carbohydrate respiration, alcohols such

as sorbitol and cellulose; and gums and mucilages. For the purposes of

therapeutics, usually the polysaccharide and gum/mucilage subgroups

are most important.

 

Polysaccharides are known to exert a beneficial action on the body's

immune system, increasing its strength. They are produced through the

linkage of simple or single sugars linked by ethers in

various and complex ways, and are divided into two categories,

water(sometimes hot) soluble or water non-soluble. Plant starch, gums,

mucilage, cellulose (and sub-group hemicellulose) are all

polysaccharides.

 

Cellulose, i.e., cotton, powdered cellulose, microcrystalline

cellulose, and purified rayon, is another polysaccharide, whose

derivatives, have been developed as bulking agents for the alleviation

of constipation, as opthalmic solutions, topical emollients and

protectants, and as agents meant to reduce the appetite (Tyler et al.,

44-45).

 

It has been difficult for phytochemists to distinguish between gums

(almost insoluble in alcohol) and mucilage categorically.

Presently, it is generally agreed that while gums are water solvent

and insoluble in alcohol, mucilage will become a slimy mass; and, that

gums are pathologically formed while mucilages are physiological in

origin (Tyler et al., 46).

 

Mucilage, therapeutically, can reduce bowel irritation, gut

irritation, peristalsis, toxin absorption, cough, bronchial and

urinary spasm. Mucilage can also increase expectoration (Cabrera, 35).

As a gelating agent, the polysaccharide hydrocolloidal carrageenan

often finds its way in ice cream; it is also used as a laxative

ingredient. Perhaps the most common bulking agent derived from a

polysaccharide comes from Plantago major, whose seed, the psyllium,

can bulk itself up with the addition of water sufficiently to initiate

peristalsis and evacuate the bowels (Tyler, 45-56).

 

LIPIDS

 

Fixed oils, fats, waxes, phosphatides, and lecithins, as members of

the lipid group, are made up of esters of long-chain fatty acids and

alcohols which contain carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. Fixed oils are

liquid at normal temperature, fats are solid; however this distinction

does not always come through, especially with differences in climate.

 

Lipids are often a main constituent in drugs, separated by expression

from the crude vegetable (plant) matter and presented as drugs in the

refined state (Tyler, 82). Plant seeds are the largest

source (e.g. sesame seeds,almonds, linseed) of lipids (Tyler, 83;

Evans, 322). They are soluble in alcohol, ether, volatile oils or

other fats. They are insoluble in water or glycerine. Heated in the

presence of alkalies, they form soaps and one of the by-products is

glycerine. Fats and fixed oils are obtained chiefly by the process of

expression, such as castor oil, olive oil, cocoa butter.

Waxes; compounds of fatty acids with certain alcohols. Differ from

fats chiefly in containing no glyceryl. Soluble in oils when heated

 

ALKALOIDS

 

Alkaloids are arguably the most potent therapeutic compounds and have

been manufactured as various allopathic drugs, including the

pain-killer morphine and the anti-malarial quinine. Derived from amino

acids, alkaloids represent a varied and complex class of nitrogenous

crystalline or oily compounds. Alkaloid levels in a given botanical

change in the course of the day and are not homogeneous, which makes

them difficult to define (Tyler et al., 186). Their presence appears

to be most prevalent in the Fabaceae/Leguminosae, Papaveraceae,

Ranunculaceae, Rubiaceae, Solanaceae, and Berberidacea families. Plant

genera providing the highest yield of alkaloids are Nicotiana, Vinca,

Strychnos, Papaver sominifera, and Rauwolfia serpentina (Evans, 545).

 

Pyrrolidine, tropane, or solanaceous alkaloids effect the peripheral

nervous system, inhibiting the parasympathetic nervous system and

stimulating the sympathetic. Pupils dilate, secretions slow, and the

vagus nerve is inhibited (causing vasodilation, bronchial dilation,

and reduced peristalsis)(Harborne and Baxter, 300-308).

 

Pyridine and piperidine alkaloids represent a class which affects the

central nervous system,reduces appetite, and contains other properties

usually diuretic or diaphoretic in action. Nicotine, lobeline, and

coniine are examples. Coniine is extremely toxic (Harborne and Baxter,

243-254).

 

Pyrrolizidine alkaloids are under fire today as chemists and doctors

try to determine the human hepatotoxicity of these agents which can

damage liver veins, causing hepatic veno-occlusive disease

(Awang, 20-22). Toxicity to livestock is demonstrated by the fact that

50% of livestock deaths occur through the ingestion of a plant that

contains these alkaloids (Harborne and Baxter, 255).

Because of five well-publicized deaths (one of which was the

teratogenic poisoning of a fetus)following the consumption of an

herb(comfrey) that had been regarded as safe, plant families in

which pyrrolizidine alkaloids are most often found (Boraginacea,

Asteraceae/Compositae, and Fabaceae/Leguminosae) are of immense

concern to both herbalists and the FDA (Mattocks, 724).

 

Indole alkaloids are derived from tryptophan, and apart from the few

with hallucinogenic effects,indoles such as serotonin, harmine and

reserpine have a sedative effect on the central nervous system. Other

constituents in this category are cytostatic, antileukemic, or are

able to act on the ratio of oxygen and glucose to the cell,

specifically increasing oxygen to deprived areas.

 

Quinoline alkaloids are named from quinoline in the cinchona plant,

and refers to the quinoline alkaloids developed in the nucleus from

tryptophan (Tyler et al., 202). Included in this group are

quinine, the anti-malaria medication, and quinidine, which calms the

heart in tachycardiasis and arrhythmia, and others. Chinchonine is an

astringent and a bitter. Isoquinoline alkaloids are derived from

tyrosine and phenylalanine.

The therapeutic value of this class of alkaloid differs according to

the sub-categories, which include simple, benzyl, Papaveraceae,

codeine, protopine, protoberberine, and ipecac isoquinolines. The

protoberberines, which include berberine, hydrastine, and canadine,

are anti-bacterial, anti-protozoal, astringent, tonic, bitter tasting,

and respiratory, vasomotor, and circulatory stimulants. Alkaloids

unite with acids to form salts, in the manner of ammonia.

Most alkaloids are somewhat soluble in alcohol (this will be enhanced

by adding glycerine) and some are soluble in water. Some will form

salts with vinegar.

 

VOLATILE OR ESSENTIAL OILS

 

Volatile oils are usually responsible for the odor of a plant.

Volatile, or essential, oils evaporate with air. They can contain

hundreds of constituents, the highest of which are terpenes.

Hydrocarbons (as with acillin, from garlic), alcohols, aldehydes (this

group includes cinnamon oil, orange oil, lemon peel, lemon oil,

hamamelis water, and citronella oil, whose medicinal purposes include

the astringent quality of witch hazel). Therapeutically, volatile oils

have many uses. They can serve as a mode of transportation, to

distribute a medicine equally throughout the body. They can act as

antiseptics. Volatile oils tend to stimulate tissues they come in

contact with, hence they can be rubefacients, counter-irritants,

and/or vasodilators. Internally, volatile oils may cause an increase

in saliva, perspiration, peristalsis, and/or stimulate the heart

muscle (Cabrera, 40). Soluble in alcohol, slightly in water and some

fixed oils.

 

STEROIDAL COMPOUNDS

 

Steroids are a natural product class of widely distributed compounds.

Steroids develop and control the reproductive tract in humans, molt

insects, induce sexual reproduction in aquatic fungi. Therapeutically,

steroids contribute cardiotonics (digitoxin), Vitamin D precursors,

oral contraceptives (semi-synthetic progestins), antiinflammatory

agents (corticosteroids) and anabolic agents (androgens).The

phytochemical make up of this group of plant glycosides always

includes a 4-membered hydrocarbon ring. This is true in animal-derived

steroids and synthesized steroids as well.

 

In plants, steroidal content is divided into steroid saponins (soluble

in water), which are very similar to triterpenoid saponins in the

terpenoid group; or, they may be compounds which render them steroid

alkaloids, from the alkaloid group(Harborne and Baxter, 290, 689).

Steroidal compounds serve many functions both for the plant and also

for humans: Combined steroids derived from plants have proven and

continue to be valuable for medicinal purposes that range from topical

antibiotics to relieving dysmenorrhea (ibid.; Evans, 480-488).

See:terpenoid saponins, steroid saponins, steroid alkaloids.

 

TERPENOIDS

 

Terpenoids form the largest group of plant products and are the most

common ingredient in volatile oils. They include camphor,

Beta-carotene, and digitalin, for example, and are sometimes referred

to as isoprenoids, due to the fact that all terpenoids are derived

from a 5-carbon precursor isoprene (Harborne and Baxter, 552).

Terpenoids are categorized as monoterpenoids and monoterpenoid

lactones, sesquiterpenoids and sesquiterpenoid lactones, diterpenoids,

and triterpenoids. Of these four groups, triterpenoids forms the

largest. Carotenoids are formed through a head-to-tail combination of

geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate, the same precursor to monoterpenoids

(ibid.).

 

Monoterpene, sesquiterpene, and diterpene alkaloids, as well as

steroidal alkaloids, are classified as alkaloids due to the presence

of nitrogen in their structure. Despite that classification, those

alkaloids, and some phenols as well (for instance, rotenone), may

contain terpenoidal atoms or compounds or isoprenoid derivatives (ibid.).

 

Monoterpenoids have a head-to-tail formation of their ten-carbon

precursor, geranyl pyrophosphate (Harborne and Baxter, 555). These

constituents are present in volatile oils. Monoterpenoids often have a

strong smell; they are the source of such scents as spearmint

(carvone), bergamot and lavendar (both of which contain linalyl

acetate), and sweet rose (nerol)

(ibid, PD2042, PD2059, PD2065; Evans, 321). Monoterpenoids occur in

insect pheromones as well. Monoterpenoids vary in pharmacological use,

as expectorants, anthelmintics, anticholesteremics, insecticides, and

antiseptics.

 

The phrase bitter principles (Soluble in water and alcohol), which

refers to the bitter-tasting monoterpenoid lactones known as iridoids

are also components of volatile oils and have been used to stimulate

actions within the body, such as mucosal or gastric secretion. The

attachment of a glucose to a hydroxyl group on the lactone ring is the

determining factor in recognizing a lactone. These isoflavonoid

polyphenols are sometimes also referred to as iridoid glycosides,

because they are often present in glycosidic form . Iridoids usually

occur in angiosperms, especially valerian, gentian, blue flag, and

orris root, and can have, aside from the therapeutic actions described

above, antimicrobial and antileukemic properties (Harborne and Baxter,

555, 569).

 

Sesquiterpenoids occur with monoterpenoids in plant essential oils,

especially in the families Labiatae, Myrtaceae, Pinaceae, and

Rutaceae. They also occur in micro-organisms, marine animals, fighting

insects, and insect pheromonal secretions. Some are very toxic, but

sesquiterpenes can be used as antifungals, carminatives, insecticides,

or as an antibiotic. This latter action has been successfully

demonstrated against staphylococcus areus and candida albicans, by

sesquiterpenes found in marine alga (Duke, 584, Harborne and Baxter,

PD2141). A sesquiterpenes found in chamomile, is an antiinflammatory

agent (Harborne and Baxter, PD2123).

 

With the addition of a y-lactone sesquiterpenoids become sesquiterpene

lactones such as those

found in absynthe and arnica (Harborne and Baxter,599). The

cytotoxicity of sesquiterpene lactones prevents their widespread use

but encourages research into antitumor applications. Often these are

the components causing contact dermatitis and some are lethal (ibid.).

 

Resins are non volatile secretions or excretions, some said to be

oxidation products of essential oils. Soluble in alcohol,fixed oils

and volatile oils.

Oleo-Gum resins; milky exudates from plants which are composed of a

gum or gums partly or wholly soluble in water, and a resin or resins

soluble in alcohol. Gum-resins, when mixed in with water, yield

emulsions, the gum more or less dissolving while the resin becomes

suspended in the solution.

 

Oleo-resins; natural solutions of resins in essential oils, where the

latter can be separated by distillation.

 

Balsams; resins or oleo resins with aromatic substances. They may be

liquid or solid and are soluble in alcohol.

 

Many resin acids, termed diterpenoid acids are included in this group,

as are plant hormones called gibberellins. Many of the diterpenoids

are toxic, similar to sesquiterpenoids, but some have antibiotic,

antiviral, antiinflammatory, and bitter tonic uses (ibid).

Ginkgolides, diterpenoids from the Ginkgo biloba plant, are fast

becoming one of today's most highly-esteemed phytochemicals, finding

use in the treatment of memory loss, allergies, asthma, brain injury,

and more (DeFeudis, 1991; Harborne and Baxter, PD2447; Petkov et al.,

106).

 

Triterpenoid saponins, or sapogenins, are plant glycosides which

lather in water and are used in

detergents, or as foaming agents or emulsifiers, and have enormous

medical implications due to their antifungal, antimicrobial, and

adaptogenic properties. Glycyrrhizin, from licorice root, is an

example of a saponin used for antiinflammatory purposes in place of

cortisone (Harborne and Baxter,

PD2536).

 

Steroid saponins are similar to the sapogenins and related to the

cardiac glycosides Therapeutically, steroidal saponins their ability

to interact medically and beneficially with the cardiac glycosides,

sex hormones, Vitamin D, and other factors, render these

phytochemicals components of great medical significance (Evans, 481).

For instance, diosgenin, from Wild Yam, was used in the development of

the first oral contraceptive (Harborne and Baxter, 689).

 

Phytosterols are necessary to plant membranes and plant cell growth.

Sitosterol, stigmasterol, and

campesterol are the most common (Harborne and Baxter, 712). It has

been demonstrated that

B-sitosterol decreases the risk of atherosclerosis by lowering plasma

concentrations of LDL's

(low-density lipoproteins) (Lehninger, 614). Ergosterol, combined with

ultra violet light, becomes vitamin D2. Vitamin D3, mentioned in the

first issue of The Protocol Journal of Botanical Medicines as a

topical treatment for psoriasis, is obtained from 7-dehydrocholesterol

(Tyler et al., 161).

 

Carotenoids, or forty-carbon tetraterpenoids, are lipid-soluble

terpenes found in all forms of plants. Their value to animals comes

from the splitting of the C40 molecule into the twenty-carbon

isoprenoid alcohol known as Vitamin A, a process which occursafter the

substance has been ingested (Guyton, 867; Harborne and Baxter, 745).

 

PHENOLS

Phenols, which are also called polyphenols or phenolic compounds, are

plant substances which have an aromatic ring bearing one or more

hydroxyl groups (Harborne and Baxter, 324). Phenols

are widely splattered throughout the plant kingdom. Food and drink owe

their actions on our senses to phenols. To many other phytochemical

classifications this is the parent group, but phenols may also be

contained as constituents in compounds through which a botanical

phytochemical exists under a different classification.

 

The flavonoids constitute about one-half of the eight-thousand or so

recognized phenols. The rest are broken down into phenylpropanoids,

anthones, stilbenoids, and quinones. The compounds have a myriad of

medical functions. From the perspective of the plant kingdom,

polyphenolic compounds are important contributors to the survival of

plant species through the insurance of successful pollination, and

also provide plants with an unpleasant taste so that possibly

threatening herbivores are repelled (ibid.).

 

Flavonoids are molecules responsible for the color of fruit and

flowers. They are beneficial to man as powerful antioxidants, stress

modifiers, anti-allergic agents, anti-viral compounds and

anti-carcinogens (Evans,420). Some are able to stimulate protein

synthesis, and some are known

antiinflammatory agents. Still others have demonstrated

vaso-protective activity. Some are diuretic, antispasmodic,

antibacterial,and antifungal (Harborne and Baxter, 367-415).

 

While some flavonoids may be classified as flavonoid glycosides, all

are phenols, but flavonoids,

flavonals, flavanones, isoflavones, and xanthones, all stem from

flavones. Flavones have effectively been used to tone blood cell walls

and bloodcells. Anthocyanidins and anthocyanins are related

flavonoids. These, and flavones in general, occur most frequently as

glycosides.

 

Isoflavones occur less frequently as glycosides, more often in their

free state, and have a higher

degree of structural variation(Harborne and Baxter, 415).

 

Tannins are polyphenolic compounds and are divided into two groups,

i.e., the hydrolyzable and

non-hydrolyzable tannins, and the condensed tannins. Hydrolyzable

tannins are thought to be

hepatotoxic with overuse; condensed tannins appear not to have this

action.

 

In general, tannins are astringent and antiseptic. Hamamelitannin,

from witch hazel bark is a source of pharmacologically-used tannin

(Evans, 386-388) and often found in men's aftershave lotions. A

polyphenol classified as a napthaquinone, plumbagin, for example,

found in the Round Leaved Sundew (Drosera rotundifolia) a plant

indigenous to coastal Maine, has shown anti-bacterial properties and

continues to be researched for its anti-cancer actions (Evans, 672).

 

GLYCOSIDES

 

Glycosides, or sugar ethers, are a complex grouping which can be

broken down to yield one or

more sugars (glycones), plus a non-sugar component (aglycones). It is

important to note that

glycosides are not a major classification of phytochemicals, as are

alkaloids, carbohydrates, phenols and terpenoids. However, it is often

when a phytochemical is in its glycosidic form that a

constituent may have a specific therapeutic action. Neucleotide

glycosides, in combination

with particular compounds, create specific glycosides in plants, the

distinction between which is

signified by a C-, S-, N-, or O-. The letters indicate that the

formation of the glycoside is dependent on interaction with Carbon,

Sulphur, Nitrogen, or alcohol/phenol components, respectively (Evans,

281). Given this mutability, glycosides can occur in any of the major

phytochemical classifications, because a sugar ether can bind itself

to molecules in a myriad of

ways. Glycosides are most commonly classified according to the

chemical nature of the aglycone,

and have vast medicinal applications as they are found in almost every

therapeutic class.

 

Some phytochemical groups, such as anthraquinone phenols, normally do

contain glycosides, so

they are nicknamed anthraquinone glycosides. Alcohol glycosides have

been used as antirheumatics and analgesics. Salicin, from Salix spp.,

is the glycosidic precursor to what is transformed to salicylic acid

in our bodies. Salicylic acid is an anodyne: Ultimately, salicylic

acid was synthesized to become today's aspirin. Glycosides are

soluble in alcohol and water.

 

Known primarily for their laxative actions, anthraquinone glycosides

were found after the aglycones (a non-sugar component) of

anthraquinones had been obtained upon hydrolysis. Both glycones and

aglycones of anthracene derivation are polyphenols containing the red

or purple pigment found in senna, cascara, rheum, and aloe, for example.

 

Flavonoid glycosides are yellow pigments in flowers and plants which

have demonstrated

antiinflammatory, anti-allergic effects, antithrombotic and

vasoprotective properties. These plant

constituents exert antioxidant effects on free radicals in the body.

Related to flavonoid glycosides

are the anthocyanidins and anthocyanins, mentioned under the phenol

heading.

 

Lactone glycosides, a.k.a. Coumarin glycosides are very fragrant: they

are the source, for instance, of freshly-mown hay scents (ibid.).

Medicinally, coumarin glycosides have been shown to have hemorrhagic,

antifungicidal, and antitumor activities. The lactone glycoside

dicumarol is known as an anticoagulant.

 

Cardiac glycosides, come from triterpenoid groups and their action on

the heart is still under

investigation. It is known, however, that the cardiac glycosides do

exert a specific action on the

myocardial muscle and allay myocardial infarction. Digitalis, from the

foxglove plant, is an allopathic prescription. (Planta Medica, 1993,

539.)

 

Cyanogenic glycosides, which initially contain hydrogen cyanide (HCN)

compounds, are toxic to

unadapted farm animals and humans. However, some have been found to be

of cytotoxic interest in cancer research. Originally, these glycosides

were probably developed so that a plant could defend itself from

herbivores. The cyanide content, referred to as a bound toxin, only

occurs in some of the 1000 or so plants which initially produce

cyanohydrin upon hydrolysis (Harborne and Baxter, 84). Detection of

the presence of cyanide is accomplished through smell or by its yellow

to brownish-red reaction with moist picrate paper. Prunasin, to

illustrate, is a cyanogenic glycoside occurring in Wild Cherry Bark, a

botanical which has been used since the late 1700's as a cough

sedative and medicinal flavorant (Evans, 538).