Why Fresh Herbs Make Better Tinctures AND FRESH ORGANIC Valerian & Achillea millefolium tinctures now BACK IN STOCK
When it comes to making high-quality herbal tinctures, the starting material matters.
At Rutland Biodynamics, we believe that where possible, medicinal herbs should be harvested at their optimum potency and processed as quickly as possible. That is why we grow many of the herbs used in our tinctures ourselves and, rather than drying them first, macerate them fresh.
Fresh from the field to the tincture
A dried herb has already undergone a significant transformation before it reaches the extraction process. Drying removes water from the plant and can alter the plant’s physical and chemical characteristics. With a fresh herb, we can capture the plant much closer to the condition in which it was growing in the field Our herbs are harvested at peak potency and macerated into a tincture on the same day. That short journey from field to extraction is a key part of our approach.
In evolutionary terms, this is how herbs were used by people. Humans operate best when receiving fresh ingredients, whether from food or medicine. We have evolved over millions of years to benefit from fresh produce. Drying and storing of herbs has come very late in our history. It came about for convenience and to overcome storage and transportation issues. However, it was not developed to make food or medicinal herbs more effective. Nor have humans changed to benefit from dried herbs instead of fresh herbs. We thrive on fresh ingredients.
Preserving the whole plant
Medicinal plants contain a complex mixture of constituents. These compounds exist within a living plant alongside naturally occurring water, volatile components, pigments, enzymes and other substances. The drying process can affect some of these constituents. Volatile compounds, for example, may be particularly sensitive to heat, airflow and prolonged storage. Fresh extraction allows us to minimise the time between harvesting and maceration. Rather than storing the dried herb for weeks or months before it is extracted, we can move directly from harvest to manufacturing.
Moreover, immediate, same‑day processing allows us to macerate fresh plants while their constituents are most active, capturing the full vitality, complexity, and therapeutic intelligence of the living plant. Nothing degrades; the plant’s character is preserved from field to bottle.
While dried‑plant tinctures can relieve symptoms, they lack the depth and nuance of fresh‑plant preparations. People seek herbalists, not only for symptom relief, but for support that reaches deeper layers of healing. Although individuals ultimately heal themselves, herbs can serve as powerful guides along that journey. Fresh tinctures carry the plant’s full energetic signature, often supporting shifts that surprise both practitioner and patient — effects that reductionist, symptom‑focused approaches may miss.
Ensuring the process is fully traceable
This is where Rutland Biodynamics is different. Our medicinal herbs are grown on our own biodynamic farm, and our cGMP manufacturing facility is located on the same site. That means we can closely control the journey from cultivation and harvesting through to extraction, testing and release. There is no need to transport freshly harvested herbs across the country to another manufacturer. We can harvest the crop and move it directly into our manufacturing process. This provides an exceptional level of traceability. We even know which section of the field grew the herb that went into the tincture that you have purchased for your patient!
And because our manufacturing facility operates to cGMP standards, quality isn’t simply something we think about at harvest. It is built into the entire manufacturing process.
Sustainability matters too
Reducing the amount of miles that our medicines, and ingredients for the medicines, move around the planet is important if we are to reduce CO2 global CO2 emissions. Our herbs only travel a few hundred meters in the whole manufacturing process. Moreover, we can control the way we farm our herbs. We can focus on increasing biodiversity in the fields around the herbs. We can use cover crops to sequester carbon back into the soil. We can provide enhanced habitats for bees and other hugely beneficial insects and animals. This is all hugely important in our holistic approve to sustainable medicine manufacturing.
Why does this matter?
For practitioners and their patients, the quality of a tincture starts long before the bottle is filled.
It starts with the plant.
How it was grown.
When it was harvested.
How quickly it was processed.
How it was extracted.
How it was tested.
And how the finished product was manufactured.
Our aim is to preserve as much of the character and quality of the freshly harvested medicinal plant as possible while producing a consistent, carefully controlled herbal medicine.
Freshly harvested. Carefully extracted. Properly tested. Fully traceable.
That is the Rutland Biodynamics approach to herbal medicine.
Safe. Sustainable. Effective.
And finally, two fresh organic tinctures are back in stock after this year’s harvest. Please click on the links below to purchase these products.
1071 Valerian off 1:1 45% SPOG – 1071 – Rutland Biodynamics
0001 Achillea millefolium 1:1 35% SPOG – 0001 Achillea millefolium – Rutland Biodynamics
