A spilanthes tincture is an alcohol extract of Acmella oleracea, the plant gardeners call buzz buttons or the toothache plant. People buy it because a few drops make the mouth tingle and water. Chilcuague does the same thing with the same molecule, from a root that grows wild in the mountains of Central Mexico. If you've used spilanthes and want to know how the two compare, this is the side-by-side.
What spilanthes is
Acmella oleracea is a small annual in the daisy family (Asteraceae). Older books and many labels still use its former Latin names, Spilanthes acmella and Spilanthes oleracea, which is where "spilanthes" comes from. It also goes by jambu, paracress and electric daisy. It most likely descends from a Brazilian species, and in northern Brazil the leaves go into tacacá, a soup from the state of Pará.
The part everyone knows is the flower head, a yellow cone with a red tip about the size of a marble. Bite one and the tingle starts within seconds. The plant grows fast from seed, which is why so many home gardeners and small farms sell spilanthes tincture.
How a spilanthes tincture is made
Most spilanthes tinctures are made from the flower heads, sometimes with the leaves and stems as well. The plant is packed into a jar, fresh or dried, and covered with alcohol. Practical Self Reliance, one of the most-read home guides, suggests 40 to 60% alcohol for dried herb and 70 to 95% for fresh, and a steep of 6 to 8 weeks before straining.
That means two spilanthes tinctures can be very different products. Strength depends on the ratio of plant to alcohol, whether the flowers were fresh or dried, and how much leaf and stem went in with them. Few small-batch labels state any of that.
“Oh wow, the saliva flow.”
Spilanthes tincture vs chilcuague extract, side by side
| Spilanthes tincture | Chilcuague (Dragon Breath) | |
|---|---|---|
| Plant | Acmella oleracea (formerly Spilanthes) | Heliopsis longipes |
| Family | Asteraceae (daisy family) | Asteraceae (daisy family) |
| Part used | Flower heads, often with leaves and stems | Root |
| Where it grows | Garden annual, grown worldwide | Wild, only in the Sierra Gorda and Sierra de Álvarez of Central Mexico |
| Tingle compound | Spilanthol | Affinin (the same molecule as spilanthol) |
| Measured amount | About 2.7 to 3.3 mg per gram of dried leaf | 6.9 to 8.5 mg per gram of dried root |
| Taste | Grassy and bitter, then tingling | Earthy and a little peppery for a second, then tingling |
| Usual form | Dropper bottle | 50 ml mouth spray, 250+ sprays |
Which has more spilanthol?
Spilanthol and affinin are two names for one compound, so the plants can be compared directly on it. Measured by HPLC, dried chilcuague root holds 6.9 to 8.5 mg of affinin per gram. For spilanthes, a 2016 review of spilanthol research in Revista Brasileira de Farmacognosia reports 2,704 micrograms per gram in the leaves of field-grown plants and 3,294 in lab-grown plants (Singh and Chaturvedi, 2012). That puts chilcuague root at roughly two to three times the level measured in spilanthes leaf.
The flower heads, the part most spilanthes tinctures are made from, haven't been measured in a comparable published study, so leaf is the best benchmark on record. On that benchmark, chilcuague root comes out well ahead.
How the tingle feels
Both give the same sequence: a buzz on the tongue, then saliva. The difference is in the lead-in. Spilanthes tastes green. Wikipedia's entry on jambu describes a grassy taste first, then tingling or numbness, heavy salivation and a cool feeling in the throat, and the Practical Self Reliance guide calls the tincture bitter and hard to take plain.
Chilcuague tastes earthy and a little peppery for about a second. Then a bright, electric buzz spreads across the tongue and mouth, saliva comes fast, and a clean, fresh feeling stays for a while. On a customer reaction video, the first words after one spray were "Oh wow, the saliva flow."
A dropper puts the tincture on one spot, so the tingle starts there and spreads. A spray covers the tongue and mouth. It's also the easier bottle to live with. A dropper bottle has to be opened, filled and closed every time, which lets air in. A spray stays sealed, fits a pocket, and a few sprays is all it takes.
Where Dragon Breath fits
Dragon Breath is made from chilcuague only. The root is wild-harvested in Central Mexico from growth zones the Mara team selects with the help of local elders, then dual-extracted in organic solutions. The extract is bottled in Miron violet glass, which keeps light off the extract and adds significant longevity to the quality and potency of the extract. It's vegan, gluten free, sugar free and non-GMO.
Start with one spray into your mouth. Once you know the feeling, you can go up to five. A 50 ml bottle gives 250+ sprays and fits in a pocket. Mitchell S., a verified buyer, kept his review short: "Epic. Must buy".
The "natural botox" claims come from spilanthes
If you've seen spilanthol sold as a botox alternative, that story started with a cosmetic serum made from Acmella, and the study behind it was small and industry-run. Chilcuague gets pulled into the same claims because it carries the same compound. Neither plant needs them. People buy both for what happens in the mouth.
For the rest of the chilcuague story, where it grows, its Nahuatl name and how it's used in Mexican cooking, read our chilcuague guide.
Questions people ask
Is spilanthes the same as chilcuague?
No. Spilanthes is Acmella oleracea and chilcuague is Heliopsis longipes. They're different plants in the same daisy family that share the compound behind the tingle.
Is spilanthes the same as the toothache plant?
Yes. Toothache plant, buzz buttons, jambu and paracress are all common names for Acmella oleracea.
What part of spilanthes goes into a tincture?
Mostly the flower heads, sometimes with the leaves and stems. Chilcuague extracts are made from the root.
Is spilanthol the same as affinin?
Yes. It's one molecule with two names. Spilanthol is the name used for Acmella, and affinin is the name it was given when chemists first isolated it from chilcuague root.
Which one tingles more?
In the studies we found, dried chilcuague root measured two to three times the spilanthol of dried spilanthes leaf. No comparable figure has been published for spilanthes flower heads.
