Osha root extract is the liquid you get when the root of Ligusticum porteri is soaked in a solvent, usually alcohol and water, and the spent root is pressed out. If you are searching for osha root extract, you have probably already decided you want osha and are now looking at a shelf of bottles, bags of cut root, jars of capsules and boxes of tea. For the plant itself, where it grows and the stories behind the name, start with our guide to osha root.
What "extract" means on an osha label
Herbalists use two terms for liquid preparations. In a 2000 article for Alternative Medicine Alert, Dr. Tieraona Low Dog defined a tincture as an alcohol and water preparation where the liquid outweighs the herb, and a fluid extract as one made at 1:1 or stronger. A label that says 1:5 means 1 part dried root to 5 parts liquid. Low Dog's example: a 1:5 tincture is likely about twice as strong as a 1:10.
In shops the words blur. Most bottles sold as "osha root extract" are tinctures by that definition. One long-running US herb company sells its osha extract at 1:5 from dried root in 62 to 72% alcohol. Another makes its version from fresh root at 1:3 in 50 to 60% alcohol. Both are called extracts on the front of the bottle.
Osha root extract vs tincture
For buying purposes they are the same product. Read the ratio and whether the root was fresh or dried. Bear Root is a tincture, an alcohol extract of osha root, and the label keeps it short. Simple ingredients: premium quality extract. If you want a fuller checklist for comparing bottles, see how to pick an osha root tincture.
The forms osha is sold in
Healthline's overview lists teas, tinctures, essential oils and capsules, plus whole root, dried or fresh. In practice a buyer chooses between these:
- Liquid extract or tincture, in a dropper bottle.
- Glycerite, a liquid extract made with glycerin as most of the solvent instead of alcohol.
- Osha dried root, whole or cut and sifted.
- Osha root capsules, filled with ground dried root.
- Tea, either loose cut root or bags blended with other herbs.
Osha stopped more than half the growth of the TB bacterium at the lowest concentration tested.
Where the smell of osha comes from
Open a bottle of osha and the first thing you notice is the smell, sharp and a little like celery seed or lovage. Osha belongs to the carrot and parsley family, Apiaceae, and much of that character comes from its aromatic oil. The best-known compound in that oil is Z-ligustilide, which makes up 0.15 to 2.5% of the root.
A 2020 study by Kemal Durić and colleagues at the University of Sarajevo extracted the oil from four related roots. Osha gave the highest oil yield of the four, 7.3 g per 100 g of dry root, and the most ligustilide by weight, 0.27 g per 100 g. The same paper reviews why the compound is hard to keep. Light pushes ligustilide to pair up into diligustilide, and heat drives oxidation and other changes.
A 2007 study in Planta Medica by Schinkovitz and colleagues at the University of Illinois at Chicago found pure Z-ligustilide stayed stable in solution kept at minus 30°C, but broke down significantly within 24 hours once dried, even in the dark at that temperature. Dried and ground root sits in the open with more of its surface touching air and light every time the bag is opened. A liquid extract holds those compounds in solution, sealed behind a cap.
Osha dried root and tea, as people used them
For most of its history osha was used as root. Rarámuri families in the Sierra Tarahumara of Northern Mexico brewed it as a tea for stomach pain and fever. In northern New Mexico the root is called chuchupate, and families made tea from it for colds and sore throats. The Lakota name is mato tapejuta, bear medicine, and the Diné credit the medicine to the bear. A piece of the root was found in a Utah medicine bundle between 200 and 600 years old.
Those are records of how people lived with the plant in the mountains where it grew. Most buyers today live a long way from those slopes, and a bag of cut root bought online has been dug, dried, cut, packed and shipped before it reaches a kitchen. Osha also looks a lot like poison hemlock in the field, which is one reason buyers leave the harvesting to people who know the plant.
Osha root capsules
Capsules are ground dried root sealed in a shell. The appeal is that you never taste anything. That is also the trade. The earthy, warming flavor and the sharp celery-like bite are the parts of osha people describe first, and a capsule skips them. Grinding the root to fill capsules opens it up to the same air and light that the aromatic compounds react to.
Why the liquid extract is the practical choice
The extract wins on things you notice in an ordinary week.
A dropper measures the same amount each time, so there is nothing to weigh and nothing to steep. You can take it straight or stir it into water, tea, juice or a smoothie, at home or at a desk. A 50 ml bottle of Bear Root lasts 30 to 50 days at 1 to 2 droppers a day.
Glass decides how well the liquid keeps once the bottle is in use. Clear glass lets light straight through to the extract. Dark amber glass is a step in the right direction. The gold standard is dark Miron glass, which keeps light off the liquid inside, and that is what Bear Root comes in.
Bear Root – Osha Root Tincture
50 ml dropper bottle. Ligusticum porteri from the mountains of Northern Mexico.
Add to bagWhat a bottle of Bear Root is like to use
Bear Root is osha, a mountain plant of Northern Mexico. As a species, osha grows at 1,500 to 3,500 m. The story behind the name is that bears dig up the root and chew it. The ethnobotanist Shawn Sigstedt watched brown bears chew the root and rub it into their fur.
Fill the dropper and hold the liquid under your tongue for 20 to 30 seconds. The taste comes on earthy and warming, then the sharp, celery-like bite of the root arrives and stays a while after you swallow. If you would rather not taste it straight, a dropper in a mug of tea in the evening softens it. The bottle is small enough for a jacket pocket or the side pocket of a bag, and it travels without a kettle.
Bear Root considerations
Contains alcohol. Not recommended during pregnancy. If you're nursing or taking medication, ask your doctor before using it.
Questions people ask
Is bear root tincture the same as osha root extract?
Yes. Bear root is a common name for osha, Ligusticum porteri, and a bear root tincture is an alcohol extract of the root.
What does a 1 to 5 ratio mean on an osha extract?
It means 1 part dried root was extracted in 5 parts liquid by weight to volume. A lower second number means a stronger liquid.
How long does a bottle of osha root extract last?
A 50 ml bottle of Bear Root lasts 30 to 50 days at 1 to 2 droppers a day.
How should I store osha extract?
Keep the cap on tight and the bottle out of direct sun. Ligustilide reacts to light and heat, which is why Bear Root comes in dark Miron glass.