which is the best method of Preparation of Herbal drug Syrup?
Make decoction and add sugar to saturate and preserve without chemicals
Hi Sir
Making a Decoction
Begin by straining the plant material out of the infusion and discarding it.
Measure the liquid.
Heat the liquid until it begins to steam; this is before it simmers and long before it boils.
Stand right there and watch for the steam to start rising. When it does, turn the heat down very low.
Steam until the liquid is reduced to half or one-quarter of what it was in the beginning. A little stainless steel pan with measuring marks on the side is of invaluable assistance in this process, but you can also judge by the mark left on the side of the pan as the liquid level falls. Or you can measure it.
Pour the decoction into a clean or sterile bottle.
Label with the contents, strength, and date. Example: Simple decoction of Witch Hazel bark, Dec. '84. Optional: Add one tablespoon of brandy or spirit per four ounces of decoction.Cap wellCool at room temperature, then store in the refrigerator. Some decoctions may keep for as long as a year, others ferment and sour within a few months.
Making a Syrup
Add sugar or honey to any type of decoction, and you have a syrup. The extra sweetness makes some herbs more palatable, soothes the throat, and can improve keeping qualities.
How much sugar or honey should you add? The exact amount is determined by weight. A standard for syrups is an equal amount, by weight, of sugar and decoction.
One cup (8 fluid ounces) of water or decoction, weighs half a pound (8 ounces). So one cup of decoction requires half a pound of sugar.
Honey is about twice as sweet as sugar. Use a quarter of a pound (4 ounces) of honey to every cup of decoction. One level tablespoon of honey weighs about one ounce.
Add the sweetener to the hot liquid
Increase the fire until the brew just comes to a boil.
Pour the boiling hot syrup into a bottle and cap it. Sterilized bottles reduce the risk of producing unexpected herbal fermentations. But the boiling liquid kills many yeasts in the bottle.
Optional: Add one tablespoon of brandy, vodka, etc. to further stabilize the syrup.
Store the syrup in the refrigerator once it cools. Syrups keep for 3-6 months.
Depending on the herbs in your original infusion, you can make a cough syrup (Comfrey root and Wild Cherry bark), an iron tonic (Yellow Dock and Dandelion roots), a soothing syrup (Valerian root), or any other medicinal syrup.
Dosage: Generally, one teaspoon of syrup is a dose for a 125-150 pound person. The dose is repeated as needed, up to 8 times daily. Use a half teaspoonful for 60-75 pound children and a quarter teaspoonful for 30 pounds or smaller.
Summary of Syrup Proportions
Begin with one pint (16 ounces) of infusion
Reduce the liquid to half its original amount (8 ounces).
Add an equal amount, by weight, of sugar (8 ounces or 1/2 pound), or half the amount, by weight, of honey (4 ounces or 4 tablespoons).
Dosage: A simple decoction is four times as potent as an infusion. One cup (8 ounces) of infusion is equal to one-quarter cup (2 ounces) of a simple decoction. Use up to one tablespoon for an infant.
Double decocting increases the strength of the infusion by a factor of sixteen (four times four). So the dose equivalent of one 8 ounce cup is only one tablespoon (1/2 ounce). The usual infant dose is half a teaspoon of double decoction.
Best wishes
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