Doug,
I certainly agree that pokeweed is interesting.
Both in it's unique antiviral properties: Three well-known different pokeweed
antiviral protein (PAP)isoforms from the leaves of the pokeweed (PAP-I from
spring leaves, PAPII from early summer leaves, and PAP-III from late summer
leaves) that cause concentration-dependent depurination of genomic virus RNA.
And there is the pokeweed mitogen. I have not come across mitogens in any other
plant, although there may be some with mitogens. And in it's immune stimulating
properties.
I have to admit that the roots worry me a little since they, along with any red
parts of the plant (not including the berries), contains the highest amount of
toxins. The berries are the lowest as long as you do not eat the seeds.
When I grew up in Kentucky, pokeweed would be found anywhere you did not cut or
weed regularly. I have yet to see it in CA where I live now. I see that you
offer pokeweed for sale or trade on your site. What are your prices for shoots,
roots, leaves and berries and when are the seasons for each? I would like
enough berries for a pie and some jelly to try. The rest would be for
tincturing. Except for some shoots that I may cook if there are enough.
Thanks,
Steve N
-----Original Message-----
From: polo [mailto:dah...@centurytel.net]
Sent: Wednesday, September 30, 2009 2:57 PM
To: silver-list@eskimo.com
Subject: Re: CS>DMSO and poke
Steve,
I recommend a pure (upper 90s%) DMSO menstruum (herbal solvent), if you are
planning on tincturing the fresh green herb. If you are tincturing dry herbs, I
would go with the recommended ratios that are traditionally used and varies
from herb to herb. For instance it is recommended that when you tincture dry
poke root, you use a 50% ethanol/50% water solution, so I would likewise use a
50% DMSO/50% water solution. Just substitute the DMSO for ethanol.
DMSO should not need a preservative if used at the higher strengths, just
like ethanol. Things usually do not grow in DMSO as they do not in ethanol,
presuming the strength is high. I would not be afraid of herbal tinctures 30%
or higher in DMSO concentrations. I mostly only use High purity DMSO in my
tincturing process and I have yet to have a tincture spoil.
I have never tried to combine DMSO and ethanol as a combination menstruum.
Interesting concept! I can only see an advantage to this from a solvent
standpoint if both solvents can extract components of an herb, if one by itself
could not. If you are only adding DMSO to provide a more efficient vehicle of
herbal drug delivery, then yes, that might be an advantage too, though most
people detest DMSO. You could extract the herb by either using a combined
DMSO/ethanol menstruum or just tincturing each herb in a DMSO or ethanol
menstruum then combining the two. Either way should be ok to my way of thinking.
The eclectic medical movement that specialized in botanical medicines from
the late 1800s up till 1932 or so, found that the best poke root tincture was
made directly from the fresh green poke root. The dry poke root is no where
near as good or potent. The toxic qualities of poke weed are highly
exaggerated. No doubt if you ate the mature weed like you would the young one
or as you would any salad, you would suffer gastro-intestinal distress, but
that's about it--puking. In some circles, it is felt that vomiting as a result
of poke root is actually cathartic. This is held mainly by the puke & cleanse
old time herbalists. I would not be worried about the widely publicized
toxicity of poke. I know you will find that some young children in the long ago
past were said to be poisoned by the berry. Maybe so. We don't know how much
they ate, nor if they were compromised in some way or if younger systems are
more susceptible. In the adult, poke berries were commonly used for arthritic
conditions. As the old cliché goes, all things are poison in the right amounts
and most poisons are medicinal in smaller amounts. Poke is no different. It is
one of my favorite herbs and a superb anti-viral and lymphatic stimulant. It is
great as a topical DMSO tincture.
doug
----- Original Message -----
> Doug,
> A little while back I asked you about making tinctures with DMSO
> (using the email address provided at your web site). If I remember
> right you recommended a 50% DMSO solution. Thanks for the info. I was
> wondering if you use a preservative in your DMSO tinctures? I am
> considering a DMSO/vodka tincture and wondered if you have tried
> something similar. If you do, would you need to combine the herb and
> DMSO and let it set first before adding the vodka, to maximize
> bonding between DMSO and herb components rather than DMSO bonding with
> alcohol?
> I also have a question regarding the tincturing of polkweed. The toxic
> components of pokeweed are water soluble. Should one dry and powder
> the pokeweed and then go through several soaking in water. Throwing
> away the water after each soaking before tincturing to eliminate the
> toxic substances? Or would you recommend an extraction using a non
> polar solvent to remove only the non water soluble components of the pokeweed?
> Thanks,
> Steve N
--
The Silver List is a moderated forum for discussing Colloidal Silver.
Instructions for unsubscribing are posted at: http://silverlist.org
To post, address your message to: silver-list@eskimo.com
Address Off-Topic messages to: silver-off-topic-l...@eskimo.com
The Silver List and Off Topic List archives are currently down...
List maintainer: Mike Devour <mdev...@eskimo.com>
