Homemade Olive Leaf Extract

Olive oil and Olive leaf medicinal benefits have been in the news quite a bit over the years and while a lot of the claims are just hype to boost sales there really are some extremely valuable benefits. One thing I noticed talking with people is that they often think the healthy benefits are relegated to mostly the oil components. If you are only interested in the cholesterol lowering and heart benefits then that could be true but the majority of the benefits are actually due to the numerous other components with the vast amount of research being done on ...

  • oleuropein
  • hydroxytyrosol
  • Oleocanthal
  • flavonoids/polyphenols

These components are found in olive oil but are also present in Olive Leaf generally in much higher percentages and can be obtained as extracts or directly by making olive leaf tea or grinding dried olive leaves.


DIY Procedure {tincture aka ethanolic extraction}

There are not many homemade olive leaf extract instructions out there. Since I already had a pound of dried leaves I figured I'd just throw a quick DIY together. For the solvent I picked up 1.75L of 40% alcohol from Costco {aka Kirkland extra cheap Vodka} $13.50

The 1lb bag of dried olive leaves came from a bulk herb order $3.50. I recommend Fresh picked and not dried olive leaves for this whenever possible. However, for some unknowable reason some people do not trust my wildcrafting skills. So I have a 1lb {454g} bag of dried Olea Europea aka the Manzanilla olive ... which happens to be one that doesn't grow around me AND contains lots of the things wanted for the extract. Srsly it's a good choice if ordering leaves.

Here I'm using a Magic Bullet™ with the grinding blade {not the blender blade} and grinding the leaves dry and putting them in a mason jar. All together I added 117g {4.1 oz} followed by 250 ml of 40% alcohol {the vodka}. This wont be enough liquid but is just about perfect for wetting all the powder. I'll be adding another 100 to 200 ml as needed. The idea is to add just enough to cover and fully extract without overly diluting the end product. I find that for dry leaves this is ~350ml to 450ml per 100g





These photos are just to give an idea of what the process looks like.

Tomorrow morning, after the leaves are fully hydrated I'll add enough alcohol to cover them by about 1/2 inch, then give the bottle a shake and put it away in the cupboard away from light. Then shake it each day for the next 2 weeks and it's ready to filter and bottle

I know most people use cheese cloth or muslin for filtering but I like coffee filters and to squeeze out all of the goodness I pack it in my hand ricer ... pictures to show up here in about 2 weeks ... perchance.



K so two weeks have passed and I more or less remembered to shake the bottle everyday thus it is time for the filtering and bottling stage to commence.

This is a fairly standard prep that can be used for any small scale plant extraction process and not just olive leaf extract.



* Warning: you assume all risk. <= obligatory warnig to ward off lawyers and stoopid peoplez



So I'm using my "ricer" ... if you don't know what that is ... it's a chef thing ... think of it as a big "garlic press".

Inside the ricer I placed a 4 cup coffee filter but you should use whatever size fits your ricer. This step isn't absolutely necessary but I like a batch of clear extract ... this will make sense in a moment.

Now pour the liquid from the extraction vessel into the filter paper Do NOT try and get all the grassy stuff out, just pour off the liquid part and give it a couple of minutes to filter.

What you get is a dark amber liquid that is otherwise clear. I call this the virgin extract ... it's not necessarily better but it's clear and just looks better. I got about 150ml of this and bottled 120ml in 2x60ml amber dropper bottles.

Once the filtration is complete and you bottled your virgin extract, flip over the plunger on the ricer and squeeze. Now toss the filter plug and scrape the rest of the grassy leftovers into the ricer. You do NOT need or want filter paper in there at this point. Now Squeeze. Rinse the residual stuff in the bottle with a little vodka and pour over the last pressing {I use 2x25ml}, then give it a final squeeze and bottle. If you want you can filter the liquid through another coffee filter after you've finished pressing but the liquid will still be cloudy it's just how it is

Ta da yer done!


Overall I used 400ml + 2x25ml = 450ml vodka

and produced 2x60ml + 223ml = 343ml {11.6oz} of Olive leaf extract

This means for approximately a $20 investment in ingredients you can produce roughly 40oz of Olive Leaf Extract tincture. Since this stuff tends to go for between $10 and $20 for a 2 oz bottle you save between $180 and $380 buckaroonies.


Tips

  • Don't use a bowl like I did here, that was just so the pictures don't look quite as y. I actually used a 32oz plastic yogurt container for the serious pressing. Bowls are too wide and you will loose more alcohol that way plus they are hard to pour from.
  • Use amber or cobalt bottles to store... pretty much anything really ... many of the healthful compounds are light sensitive. I used a clear mason jar because I am cheap and have a good dark cabinet. You can also just wrap the bottle in aluminum foil if you want.
  • Sacrifice a tablespoon of your extract to the fire gods. Srsly not only will this appease their vengeful wrath but if it doesn't burn you need to add more alcohol. And "no" not the vodka ... something with more than 40% alcohol or you'll just have a very dilute extract. Anywho, it doesn't have to be a constant burn but when you put a match to it you want to see a flash. This should be obvious but just in case ... the idea is you take out a tablespoon full, cap the rest and move it away from any flame THEN ignite the tablespoon of tincture. Do NOT go all molotov cocktailing.
  • If you prefer alcohol free-ish tincture go ahead and let it evaporate down 40% to 50% Keep it in the fridge but it still will not store too long and you may get some precipitate but it's still very healthful. Alternatively you can let 70% evaporate then replace it with glycerin ... at 70% glycerin {food grade} your stuff is preserved.
  • If you want to compare your extract to store bought tinctures and have a good scale {accuracy of 0.1g or better}, tare a container then add a known volume {1 tsp =5ml, 1tbs=15ml}, let the liquid evaporate and get the weight of the residue. Now work out the g/ml ratio and that's your potency

* Warning: you assume all risk.

I do this kind of thing all the time but there are dangers. Alcohol burns with a colorless often unseen flame, if the alcohol content is too low in your final extract you can grow nasty things, etc. Plus every extract comes with different challenges and hazards. If you are not willing to assume these risks you should purchase from an established store 'cuz I just do this for fun.