Reply To: Materia Medica
Hi Katy,
That was a cute auto correct (Oregon grapefruit). hehe
The highest concentration of the medicinal constituents of Oregon grape are indeed found in the root ‘bark’ (just under the outer skin/bark layer). This is quite tedious work, digging roots, cleaning them and then slicing off the outer bark layer. Some folks will harvest the rhizome and only peel the outer layer off the larger parts of the rhizome/roots, then just cut up the smaller rhizomes to use whole.
There is another option. If you can find a nice big Oregon grape plant you can cut stems and peel the outer bark off of the base of these. There is just as much berberine found in the bottom ‘woody’ parts of the stems. This way you also don’t have to kill the plant and scrub as much dirt off as you would from the roots/rhizomes.
I think I would be more inclined to make a decoction with the Oregon grape, then add the other plants to steep once you have taken the decoction off of the stove top and then strain this well. Using powder in a netti pot may be more irritating than beneficial.
One more item about harvesting Oregon grape root is that the constituents are going to be higher in the fall after the flowers and berries have ripened and are ‘dying back’. More of the plants energy will be heading downwards at this time.
Happy Netti pot solution making! 🙂
Benna