Salve Contamination? Help!

[Dave]

I am trying to make a plantain salve again, this time the "long way". I filled up a quart jar with chopped plantain leaves, then covered the leaves with olive oil, closed it up and stuck it in the pantry, and give it a shake or two once a day. Today I noticed that the lid was popped up a bit, and when I opened the jar to check on it, I could hear the "Whoosh" of some gas escaping. Is this something to worry about, or is it normal?? I don't want to make a salve that is contaminated. Everything smelled OK, and there is no discoloration or mold that I can see. It's been about 2 weeks since I started the process. Any suggestions or other info would be appreciated.

Thanks!!

Dave

[Candi Huber]

Dave, I think that may be normal but you will want to keep an eye on it for mold or off smells. Most of the oils that I've made have overflowed out of the jar as the plant matter swells. Not to mention that you are shaking the jar and increasing the air bubbles inside. There may be some natural fermentation happening inside the jar which is increasing the "whoosh" effect but I wouldn't worry about that. If you see weird discoloration, mold on the leaves, or off smells dump it out and try again.

[Trevanna]

Hi Dave!
It's awesome that you're making salve-- well done! I think you're okay with the oil. I would bet it was just a bit of trapped air. Olive oil is resistant to bacteria growth and takes a long time to go rancid-- and even if it does go rancid, it's not a big deal and folks around the world actually prefer rancid oil. I would agree with Candi that unless you see actual mold, smell a terrible smell, or see some weird unnatural colours, it's completely fine and will help heal your wounds for months to come. Let us know what you decided, and how the salve turned out!
Trevanna

[Dave]

Good to hear from you Trevanna. My salve seemed to come out just fine. No smells, no mold, no funny colors! And it seems to work a lot better than my first attempt, when I ended up deep frying the plantain. I ended up with 7 4oz jelly jars of salve, so I should have enough for a little while!

Dave

[Arthur Haines]

Dave,

Moisture is at least part of your problem. It sounds like you are using fresh leaves, which contain a great deal of water. Olive oil is a good preservative, but only if it doesn't have much water added to it. If you are going to make salve and want to soak plants in oil, you will have much more success drying the leaves. If you don't want to wait for the leaves to dry, at least wilt them down for an entire day so much of the water is lost from the foliage. Not only does this help prevent spoilage of the oil/salve, but it also concentrates the phytochemicals in the leaves so that you get more potent medicines.

Arthur