Manufacture of gemmotherapy extract from Pol Henry to today

Abstract

The pharmaceutical form and preparation method, initially proposed by Dr. Pol Henry, was adopted and improved. The improved method was officialized in 1965 in the French Pharmacopoeia, under the denomination of glycerol macerates. This denomination means an extract obtained with glycerol and ethanol, by cold extraction – maceration. The improvement of the Dr. Pol Henry’s initial method regards the cut of the vegetal raw material before the extraction. In initial method the buds were not cut, the extraction being conducted on entire buds. The pharmaceutical technology practice demonstrated and it is part of official pharmacopoeia method, that the extraction is more efficient on the cut vegetal raw material. Neither today exist a unitary method used by all producers for obtaining glycerol macerates, some of them uses also purified water at extraction. The method from French Pharmacopoeia was later adopted also by the the European Pharmacopoeia. Today are used also the concentrated glycerol macerates, due to the fact that the ethanol content of one administration is much more less than in diluted glycerol macerates and appears also complex formula, containing more unitary glycerol macerates, in that the individual components act synergically and enhancer one to the other.