Melissa: Ratio of Leaf to Total Weight
Submitted by Rasputin Paracelsus on Tue, 22/07/2008 - 17:10.
I have just weighed 20 Melissa plants freshly picked, first whole, then the stalks deprived of leaves, in two sets of 10. Here are the results:
| Batch #1 | % of Total | |
| Total Weight |
36.3g
|
|
| Stem Weight |
10.4g
|
28.7%
|
| Leaf Weight |
25.9g
|
71.3%
|
| Batch #2 |
|
|
| Total Weight |
49.0g
|
|
| Stem Weight |
16.4g
|
33.5%
|
| Leaf Weight |
32.6g
|
66.5%
|
| Combined Batches |
|
|
| Total Weight |
85.3g
|
|
| Stem Weight |
26.8g
|
31.4%
|
| Leaf Weight |
58.5g
|
68.6%
|
Thus, as we can see, in the fresh herb, the leafs account for approximately 7/10 of the weight, while the stems account for 3/10.
I will post additional data about the dried herb once it becomes available.
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I've just cut another 20
I've just cut another 20 plants or so.
Weight in total 116.5 g; stems 36.8 or 31.6%; leaves (and very thin stem parts) 79.7 g or 68.4%.
BTW, I don't recommend separating the leaves from the stems at the fresh stage, since as one can tell by the smell, a good deal of the essence escapes. I am doing this at the moment only for the sake of compiling some preliminary statistics.
This time, I harvested 150g
This time, I harvested 150g of fresh Melissa, which I left intact, and placed in a paper bag for drying.
After a few weeks, I weighed the Melissa and found it to have reduced to 48g. Upon separating the leaves and the stems, I ended up with 39.6g of leaves and 8.4g of stems.
Roughly speaking, then, one can expect a ratio of 3:1 in fresh to dry Melissa; if one wishes to use leaves only, it comes to 15:4 or nearly 4:1.