The purple coneflower growing in many gardens is edible from flower to root, though people mostly drink it as tea or tincture rather than eat it. Echinacea is among the best-selling herbal remedies in several countries and has long been used against infections.1PubMed Central. Echinacea species (Echinacea angustifolia (DC.) Hell., Echinacea pallida (Nutt.) Nutt., Echinacea purpurea (L.) Moench): a review of their chemistry, pharmacology and clinical properties. Which part you pick, and whether you steep it in water or soak it in alcohol, changes what ends up in your cup.
Which Parts of Echinacea You Can Use
Leaves, flowers and roots can all be made into tea or tincture.2Eat The Planet. Echinacea, the Gorgeous and Useful Purple Coneflowers – Eat The Planet The flowers, leaves and stems together are often called the aerial parts, meaning everything above ground.3Proactive Choice. Echinacea Tea Benefits, How to Make It and What Part to Use Flowers and leaves are milder and more floral.4Proactive Choice. Echinacea Tea Benefits, How to Make It and What Part to Use The root is the strongest-tasting part and causes a tingling, numbing feeling on the tongue.5Proactive Choice. Echinacea Tea Benefits, How to Make It and What Part to Use Many commercial teas blend root and aerial parts, a sensible middle ground.6Proactive Choice. Echinacea Tea Benefits, How to Make It and What Part to Use
Before you harvest from the garden, make sure of what you have. Purple coneflower has drooping pink-purple petals around a spiky orange-brown center cone, and its leaves are rough, coarse and somewhat toothed. Ornamental hybrids look similar but may differ from the medicinal plant. Only harvest plants you are sure of and that haven’t been sprayed with garden chemicals.
Three species are used: purple coneflower is the common garden one, and narrow-leaf and pale coneflower are the others.7PubMed Central. Echinacea species (Echinacea angustifolia (DC.) Hell., Echinacea pallida (Nutt.) Nutt., Echinacea purpurea (L.) Moench): a review of their chemistry, pharmacology and clinical properties. The species differ in their chemical makeup, so a store product may contain one, two or all three.8PubMed Central. Echinacea species (Echinacea angustifolia (DC.) Hell., Echinacea pallida (Nutt.) Nutt., Echinacea purpurea (L.) Moench): a review of their chemistry, pharmacology and clinical properties. A plant sold at a garden center as “purple coneflower” is usually Echinacea purpurea. If you can’t tell what you have, treat it as an ornamental and buy a plant or seeds labeled with the species name before using it for tea.
Fresh petals can be scattered on salads in small amounts, though they taste bitter. The spiky cone is too tough and prickly to eat raw.
For a first batch, flowers or leaves are the gentlest start, since they taste milder. Roots suit someone who already knows they tolerate the plant and wants the stronger taste and tingle. Roots also take years of growth and a dig that removes the plant, so most gardeners will use flowers and leaves far more often.
What Makes Each Part Different Inside
The main plant acids are chicoric and caftaric acid, both linked to health benefits.9PubMed. Which Plant Part of Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea (L.) Moench) Should be Used for Tea and Which for Tincture? Caftaric acid comes out of the leaves best when steeped in water. Chicoric acid comes out best from flowers and roots in a mix of about 40% alcohol.10PubMed. Which Plant Part of Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea (L.) Moench) Should be Used for Tea and Which for Tincture? Levels of chicoric acid vary hugely, by up to tenfold, from one plant to the next.11HortScience. Patterns of Variation in Alkamides and Cichoric Acid in Roots and Aboveground Parts of Echinacea purpurea (L.) Moench A homemade preparation can’t be assumed to match the strength printed on a store product, since soil, species, part and preparation all shift the plant’s chemistry.
Echinacea also contains complex sugars that boost immune cells in lab and animal tests. Water extracts carry these sugars, and alcohol extracts carry fewer.
The compounds your body actually takes up are different. Alkamides, the compounds behind the tongue tingle, are absorbed quickly, showing up in blood within 20 minutes.12PubMed. Echinacea alkamide disposition and pharmacokinetics in humans after tablet ingestion They peak in about 2 hours and remain detectable for up to 12 hours, so a dose three times a day keeps their level steady.13PubMed. Echinacea alkamide disposition and pharmacokinetics in humans after tablet ingestion The chicoric-type acids, by contrast, hardly pass through the gut wall into the body.14PubMed Central. Bioavailability of Echinacea Constituents: Caco-2 Monolayers and Pharmacokinetics of the Alkylamides and Caffeic Acid Conjugates
That makes the tingle a rough sign your preparation contains the absorbable compounds. It says nothing about how much chicoric or caftaric acid is in the cup, since those are separate compounds. A weak tingle can simply mean you used a mild part such as leaf or flower, or that stored plant material has faded.
How to Make Echinacea Tea and Tincture
Roots are tough and need simmering rather than a quick steep.15Proactive Choice. Echinacea Tea Benefits, How to Make It and What Part to Use16Proactive Choice. Echinacea Tea Benefits, How to Make It and What Part to Use If you want water-soluble caftaric acid, leaf tea is the best choice.17PubMed. Which Plant Part of Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea (L.) Moench) Should be Used for Tea and Which for Tincture?
For leaf and flower tea, use about 1 to 2 teaspoons of dried plant, or a small handful of fresh, for each cup of water. Pour just-boiled water over it and cover the cup so the aroma stays in. Leave it for 10 to 15 minutes, which is longer than a typical tea bag because the plant material is coarse. Strain and drink while warm.
For root tea, scrub the root well and chop it into small pieces so more surface meets the water. Simmer the pieces covered in water for 15 to 20 minutes; the lid keeps the water from boiling away. Strain it and expect a stronger, earthier taste with a clear tingle.
A tincture is a concentrated extract made by soaking the plant in alcohol.18Eat The Planet. Echinacea, the Gorgeous and Useful Purple Coneflowers – Eat The Planet To make one,19PubMed. Which Plant Part of Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea (L.) Moench) Should be Used for Tea and Which for Tincture? fill a jar loosely with chopped plant and cover it with vodka, which is roughly 40% alcohol. Seal it, shake it now and then, and keep it in a dark place for several weeks. Strain it and store the alcohol extract in a dark dropper bottle.
Glycerin, a sweet syrup, works as an alcohol-free option for the aerial parts.20PubMed Central. Comparison of Maceration and Ultrasonication for Green Extraction of Phenolic Acids from Echinacea purpurea Aerial Parts In testing, 50% alcohol, 50% glycerin and 90% glycerin pulled out about the same amount of the plant acids.21PubMed Central. Comparison of Maceration and Ultrasonication for Green Extraction of Phenolic Acids from Echinacea purpurea Aerial Parts Soaking longer did not noticeably increase what came out.22PubMed Central. Comparison of Maceration and Ultrasonication for Green Extraction of Phenolic Acids from Echinacea purpurea Aerial Parts
Making Echinacea Taste Better
Echinacea tea has a strong floral and somewhat bitter flavor that takes time to get used to.23Eat The Planet. Echinacea, the Gorgeous and Useful Purple Coneflowers – Eat The Planet Raw honey, agave, stevia or milk improve the taste greatly, and elderberry, lemongrass, lemon balm, peppermint and citrus pair well with it.24Eat The Planet. Echinacea, the Gorgeous and Useful Purple Coneflowers – Eat The Planet
A few easy blends are worth trying. Mix leaf and flower tea with peppermint for a cooler, fresher taste that hides some of the bitterness. Add a slice of lemon and a spoonful of honey if the first cup is too sharp. For a darker, fruitier drink, simmer root with elderberries. Start weak and strengthen the brew as you get used to it.
A numb, tingling tongue after root tea is normal. Swelling of the lips or throat is something else entirely and signals an allergy.
Is Echinacea Safe to Drink
Across 48 trials with over 10,000 people, side effects were no more common with echinacea than without it.25PubMed. Safety of Oral Echinacea Preparations: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis in the Context of Therapeutic Benefit Serious problems were very rare, under 1 in 1,000 reported events, with no deaths.26PubMed. Safety of Oral Echinacea Preparations: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis in the Context of Therapeutic Benefit Reported complaints were mostly stomach upset, headache and skin reactions.27PubMed. Safety of Oral Echinacea Preparations: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis in the Context of Therapeutic Benefit
Allergic reactions are the real exception. Some people have had severe allergic reactions, including asthma attacks, within 10 minutes of a first dose.28PubMed. Adverse reactions associated with echinacea: the Australian experience Others developed hives, swelling or a rash within 2 days.29PubMed. Adverse reactions associated with echinacea: the Australian experience A clear first day therefore doesn’t settle the question. Anyone who gets hay fever from ragweed or reacts to other daisy-family plants should be cautious, since echinacea belongs to that family.
For a first try, make a weak cup and drink only a small amount, then stay put and watch for the first 10 minutes. Stop at once if you notice wheezing, swelling or a rash, and seek urgent help for any trouble breathing.
Echinacea can slow how fast the body clears caffeine, raising caffeine levels by about 30%.30America’s Pharmacist. Drug Interactions With Dietary Supplements If you feel jittery or sleepless while taking it, cut back on coffee. Because it stimulates the immune system, it may work against drugs that suppress immunity, such as transplant medicines.31America’s Pharmacist. Drug Interactions With Dietary Supplements People on drugs like cyclosporine should avoid echinacea until more is known.32PubMed Central. Cyclosporine and Herbal Supplement Interactions No confirmed cases of harmful interactions with other medicines have been reported,33PubMed. A critical evaluation of drug interactions with Echinacea spp. but if you take regular medicines of any kind, tell your doctor or pharmacist so they can check echinacea against your list.
Harvesting, Drying and Storing for Strength
Pick leaves and flowers in summer while the plant is blooming. Dig roots in autumn from plants that are at least a few years old, so they are well developed. Leave some plants standing so the patch keeps spreading. Wash roots well and chop them before drying.
Wild coneflowers are threatened more by prairie loss and development than by digging, and about half of wild plants re-sprout after harvest. Still, growing your own is better than digging wild roots.
Drying at about 40°C kept the most chicoric acid and alkamides.34Acta Horticulturae. EFFECT OF DRYING TEMPERATURE AND AIR SPEED ON CICHORIC ACID AND ALKYLAMIDE CONTENT OF ECHINACEA PURPUREA A food dehydrator with a temperature dial is easier than guessing with an oven. Dry until the plant is brittle, because leftover moisture invites mold in storage. Chopping and drying barely changed the root’s tingle compounds.35PubMed. Alkamide levels in Echinacea purpurea: effects of processing, drying and storage
Storage is where strength is lost. Stored roots lost over 80% of their alkamides after about 15 months at room temperature, and even freezing did not stop the loss.36PubMed. Alkamide levels in Echinacea purpurea: effects of processing, drying and storage Dry small batches and use them within the year.
Choosing Store-Bought Echinacea
About 3 in 10 tested echinacea samples were adulterated or mislabeled.37PubMed. Estimating the extent of adulteration of the popular herbs black cohosh, echinacea, elder berry, ginkgo, and turmeric – its challenges and limitations Some products also fail recognized quality standards.38PubMed Central. Echinacea species (Echinacea angustifolia (DC.) Hell., Echinacea pallida (Nutt.) Nutt., Echinacea purpurea (L.) Moench): a review of their chemistry, pharmacology and clinical properties.
On the label, look for the species named in Latin, such as Echinacea purpurea, rather than just “echinacea.” Check which part is used: root, aerial parts or both, since they differ in taste and compounds. A third-party testing seal from an independent lab is a better sign than a marketing claim. A recent date matters too, since stored echinacea loses strength.