Capsules make herbs with an acrid taste or unpleasant oils more palatable. After making capsules, be sure to keep them in a safe container, accurately labeled, including the date of preparation. Gelatin capsules contain beef and pork tissue. However, an all-vegetable capsule may soon be available. A conserve is a soft mass of herbs mixed with sugar or honey.
Date sugar works as well.
Sugar burns at a higher temperature in the stomach than does honey, but the medicinal property of honey is consumed faster than that of sugar. To make a conserve, such as rose conserve, gather fresh rose petals and add sugar in the amount of three times the weight of the petals. Mash it together with a mortar and pestle until congealed. If honey is used, roll the mixture in a little orris root powder to keep it from sticking to your hands. Decoction Many roots and barks, as well as some stems and flowers, must be boiled for some time before their active principle is extracted.