Craft Your Own Plantain-Infused Oil!

Infusing oils is such a great skill to learn. Infused oils can be used in so many ways. You can use infused oils in beauty products, cooking, aromatherapy, and for medicinal purposes. Plantain-infused oil is one of the newest ones in my arsenal.

What is a plantain you ask? I know most people immediately think of the banana-looking type of plantain when I start talking about this. But what I am referring to is commonly known to most people as a weed that grows throughout the world.

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There are about 250 species that grow. Commonly they are known as broadleaf (Plantago Major) and narrow-leaf (Plantago Lanceolata) plantains. The variety that grows in my yard is a pale-seeded plantain called Plantago Virginica, also known as Virginia Plantain or Hoary Plantain. It is known to have the same traits as the broadleaf plantain (Plantago Major) The Plantago Virginica grows in the spring to early summer so harvesting and storing this plant is essential if you want it for year-round use.

Benefits of the Plantain Plant

The only thing knew about the plantain was it was/is used to stop bleeding. I had read about it while looking up plants in my yard online to see the benefits of it but was unaware of all the other amazing benefits it had to offer. One day while scrolling Instagram I came across a video with a woman talking about making soap with it. I had never heard of this but was intrigued. The thought that I could make something that would help my husband with his psoriasis and my daughter with her eczema and know that it was not packed full of man-made chemicals made me super excited. (Side note – this was the catapult that started our little soap-making journey)

I took a deep dive reading all I could and found it had so many more benefits than I originally thought. That made me fall in love with this weed that grows under my fig tree and around my yard. They are packed full of benefits!

Let’s get busy talking about Plantain-Infused Oil

Here is everything you will need to make your own Plantain-Infused Oil:

Equipment:

• 1 Glass Mason Jar
• 1 Fine-Mesh Sieve
• 1 Funnel
• 1 Glass Jar for Storage
• 1 Lining – Coffee Filter, Cheesecloth, or Paper Towel
• 1 Pair of Food Grade Gloves
• Bowl

Materials:

• 1 Cup Oil – most commonly used is Olive Oil (more on this later)
• 2 Cups Fresh Plantain Leaves

The first thing to do is to collect the plantains. And as you can see I got to this patch of plantains right alongside the caterpillars. haha

Now to let you know I use an app called “PictureThis” which I found on Apple’s app store to verify my plants. (This is not some ad – I don’t make money with them. Although, if they would want to start paying me I would say yes, please! haha) There are also ways to search images on Google and other apps you can search to identify a plant. But this app is superb in knowing all plants and trees. So I pay a small fee each year because I use the heck out of it. It is important to pick the right plant when foraging and there is no shame in double checking.

When foraging the plantain only cut off a few leaves from each plant. Leaving leaves is super important for the plant to continue to grow and produce more leaves. (wink) It also lets the plant go to seed so there are more plants next year.

To dry or not to dry – what was the question?

After collecting your bounty it is time to get the plantains ready for the oil. There are many debates on whether you should wash them, dehydrate them, and all that goes along with prepping them for the oils.

Rinsing a plant off is not going to take away from the plant as long as you are not crushing it in the process. Rainwater pours on them regularly and the structure of the plant continues to maintain all the goodies inside. If you have a relatively clean plant and you don’t want to rinse it simply dust it off by giving it a good little shake and wiping it down. Otherwise, rinse it off and dry it with some paper towels or in a salad spinner. Just be careful to not squeeze it and break it apart while doing it where some of the goodies are lost in the process.

When it comes to drying the plant, I took a class with Dr. Patrick Jones from HomeGrown Herbalist. He advises you to dry/dehydrate them. There are many reasons why – but mostly the water in the plant can change the media used to extract the properties from the plant.

Drying the plant can be done by simply lying them out in an area with good airflow. You can put them on a screen or pan with holes to help. If you have a dehydrator, awesome! If you want to dehydrate them in the oven – it works just as well. Just be sure to set your temperature between 95º – 100º in order to not ruin any of the nutrients in the plant.

Now to make your Plantain-Infused Oil

There are 2 parts to this. One is picking your oil. The next is putting it together. The oil picking is the harder part of the scenario for sure. The end result is what matters for this choice. If you are going to use it for simple ointment for cuts, bites, or even with taking it internally it is simple enough to just use olive oil. Olive oil has great benefits on its own and by infusing the oil in olive oil you will find it to be perfect.

For the oil I did with this batch though I used sunflower oil. My choice came from wanting to make a salve with it for my husband to use daily on his face. Sunflower oil has a lower comedogenic rating and doesn’t clog pores.

Now for the easy part. Chop up your plantains. Add them to a jar. Pour your oil over them until covered. Viola! Yes – it is that easy!

The waiting game

Now that you have your oils mixed you need to hide it in a dark place. Light breaks down the plant and ruins the nutrients at this point. I find putting it in a cabinet works best. For the first week, you will want to shake it each day.

Then you let it sit. It takes four weeks total for the plant to secrete all the nutrients into the oil.

The final step in making your Plantain-Infused Oil

After four weeks your oil has been infused by the plants and ready to strain. You will need a big bowl and a fine mesh strainer. It is ideal to use a coffee filter, napkins, or cheesecloth to squeeze things out fully.

Line the mesh and pour the contents of the jar in. I like to use the bottom of a clean jar to cup to press down on the mixture to squeeze out the oils as much as I can. It will help to fold the liner of your choice over the leaves and press on top of it. If needed you can also squeeze and/or wring it out like you do a rag using your hands. Be sure though if touching it to use gloves and make sure if using paper towels that you don’t twist it to the point of them breaking.

Do not worry if some sediment ends up in the final product. This will not hurt anything. Using a clean jar grab your funnel, and pour the infused oil into the jar. Don’t forget to label the jar and date it.

Again, it is best to store the jar in a dark place to help keep the oil and nutrition in the oil from breaking down.

Remember, this is a natural product, and it’s always a good idea to do a patch test before applying it liberally to your skin.

So, there you have it! With a little patience and these simple steps, you can create your own batch of plantain-infused oil and enjoy its potential benefits. Let us know in the comments below if you try this recipe and how you use your finished product!