MAKING RECIPES #4 On the shelf life of herbs
Why shelf life matters - how natural herbal products change and ways to help protect them
In this post I look at some issues around shelf life of herbs and herbal preparations, why shelf life matters, how plant material deteriorates, and ways to help prevent loss of quality. This post is the fourth in the MAKING RECIPES # series with my inside story on growing, harvesting, making, marketing, preserving, selling healing remedies and bodycare products, many from the medicinal forest garden. If you have subscribed on a paid basis to read this MAKING RECIPES # series then I really appreciate your fantastic support!
There is no eternal life for balms
Herbal preparations do go off! Surprisingly, however, I have found that some people can have great expectations of eternal life for their balms! I remember meeting a friend who had obtained marigold ointment from me several years previously. She asked me if the ointment would still be good to use. I knew that if she opened the jar she would find a pale dry waxy shrunken version, a poor relation of the original fragrant ointment. Without preservatives the ointment would have been fine for about six months, then becoming much less effective and, finally, just horrible. Using natural products to make herbal preparations is like that as most do not keep well for more than a few months. Sadly, many people nowadays expect products to keep indefinitely. Perhaps we have become too accustomed to a skincare industry built on mineral oils and powerful preservatives?
What is the shelf life of herbs?
Think of shelf life as the time during which a herb or herbal preparation is viable for use. After a period of time the constituents and/or the base can deteriorate and become unfit for use and so stocks should be replaced. This is an important consideration for herbal products. The length of time for a useful shelf life is variable, but as a rough guide, I use the following for my regular stock checks of the herbs and products on my shelves.
Fresh leafy herb - up to 2 days in a refrigerator
Herbal infusion in water - 2-4 days in a refrigerator
Balm or ointment - up to 3-4 months
Infused oils and vinegars - up to 12 months
Dried leafy herbs and flowers - up to 12 months
Dried whole herbs including bark and roots - up to 24 months
Syrups and distilled waters - up to 24 months
Tinctures in glycerol - up to 2 years
Tinctures in alcohol - up to 4 years
Essential oils - up to 5 years
Soap - 5 years, or possibly forever (strongly alkaline so lasts ages)
Colour is a significant indicator, for well-dried flowers and leaves look for fresh colours, as these are indicators of better keeping. Powdered herbs have a very short shelf-life of a few months due to the huge surface area available for deterioration.
Selling herbal products and safety assessment
If you are prescribing or selling herbal products then shelf life has to be considered. Herbal practitioners treat individuals through consultation and find that using alchohol-based tinctures is ideal because they keep well without refrigeration. But, selling herbal products over the counter or online to the general public is completely different. A key question is safety and whether the product does satisfy a safety assessment. For body care and cosmetics, this means looking at the constituents and getting advice on added preservatives. I will be writing future posts in the MAKING RECIPES # series about the situation for selling a herbal product to a wider market, and whether there are natural preservatives that can be used.
What can be done?
So, what else can you do to help maintain colour, aroma, effectiveness and quality of herbs and herbal preparations? There are a few herbal preservatives that I like to use. First, let’s understand more about how to keep an eye on quality and prevent losses.