Plant Extracts Explained

What the heck are plant extracts?

We get asked that question... a lot. 

Extracts are essentially made by drying herbs and plant materials and reducing them to powdered form or by solvent extraction, creating a liquid by-product.

Powdered extracts are made from raw, dried plant material and are usually in a ratio of 5/1 or 10/1 which means 5 or 10 pounds of herbs were extracted down to 1 lb of dried powdered extract. At Calli Essentials all of our powered extracts are produced from raw material that was grown without the use of chemicals or pesticides.

Liquid extracts, which are more commonly used in commercial products are produced with “solvent extraction.” The cheapest, most effective way to produce solvent extracts with the longest shelf life is through chemical extraction (most often produced with petroleum by-products). These are also typically refined and filtered to create clear by-products. In other words, “taking out all the goodness of the plant material.”

Our botanical extracts are obtained through natural solvent sources such as NON-GMO vegetable glycerin or propanediol which is made from renewable corn sugar fermentation. While these natural extracts feel a little different than the chemical ones, they only add to the benefits of our natural products.