A tincture is typically an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol. Solvent concentrations of 25–60% are common, but may run as high as 90%. In chemistry, a tincture is a solution that has ethanol as its solvent. In herbal medicine, alcoholic tinctures are made with various ethanol concentrations, which should be at least 20% alcohol for preservation purposes.
A tincture prepared from white willow bark and ethanol, containing salicin (from which salicylic acid-based products like aspirin are derived)
Bottle for holding ipecac tincture
Herbal medicine is the study of pharmacognosy and the use of medicinal plants, which are a basis of traditional medicine. With worldwide research into pharmacology, some herbal medicines have been translated into modern remedies, such as the anti-malarial group of drugs called artemisinin isolated from Artemisia annua, a herb that was known in Chinese medicine to treat fever. There is limited scientific evidence for the safety and efficacy of many plants used in 21st-century herbalism, which generally does not provide standards for purity or dosage. The scope of herbal medicine sometimes include fungal and bee products, as well as minerals, shells and certain animal parts.
An antique selection of herbal medicines
A physician preparing an elixir, from an Arabic version of Dioscorides's pharmacopoeia, 1224
Leaves of Eucalyptus olida being packed into a steam distillation unit to gather its essential oil
A herb shop in the souk of Marrakesh, Morocco