Mother Tincture
MOTHER TINCTURE : It is the drug prepared from drug substance of vegetable and animal kingdom using strong alcohol as a vehicle, by the process of extraction in old method and by the process of maceration and percolation in the new method.
In Hahnemann’s method (old method) of preparation, the drug strength of various classes of drug substances is different owing to the difference in the solubility of the drugs in various solvents. To overcome this variation of drug strength, Homoeopathic Pharmacopoeia of United States in 1941, barring a few exceptions prescribed a uniform standard of 10% drug strength for most medicinal preparations. The tincture contains 1/10th part of medicinal substance i.e. a drug strength of 1/10.
MACERATION- It is a long process used for the treatment of large quantities of drug substances, needing much time for the extraction of their medicinal principles.
Substances used for maceration, include hard, gummy, mucilaginous substances and those substances having much viscid juice which prevent the rapid penetration of alcohol (menstrum) into the mass. Mother tincture cannot be obtained directly. Decantation has to be carried out before filtration.
PERCOLATION- It is a comparatively short process, but is a special method used for the extraction of dried vegetable and drug substances. This process is carried out in a special vessel – the percolator. Mother tincture can be obtained directly. Decantation is not necessary before filtration.
Mother tinctures are the liquid preparations resulting from the extraction of suitable source material with alcohol/water mixtures which form the starting point for the production of most homeopathic medicines. Standard percolation, maceration and squeezing techniques are used on fresh plants (which yield around 350 ml of juice per kg) and succulents (which yield up to twice the plant harvest), while dried specimens are subjected mainly to percolation with alcohol on a column.
At Bjain, we put in best of raw materials as described in homoeopathic pharmacopoeias to make our mother tinctures. This enables the practicing doctors to see the effects of remedies they have actually studied in their source books and bring better levels of cure in their patients. The containers used to make mother tinctures are made up of 316 grade SS (highest quality stainless steel). For maximum medicament in tincture we use hydraulic press machine and Whatman membrane Filter paper is used for Under gravity filtration process. Ageing process is the highlight of Bjain mother tinctures which allows maximum dissolution of drug substance into the menstrum. From pharmacopoeia, to genuine raw materials ,to best quality infrastructure and quality assured procedures are the key inputs for the making of Bjain mother tinctures.