Store salvia extract closed, dark, dry and at room temperature or cooler, in its original labelled pack. That is the short answer, and most of it is general good practice: we found no published study of how long salvia extracts, leaves or tinctures keep their salvinorin A content.
What is known about salvinorin A and heat
The best data come from a laboratory reference standard of pure salvinorin A, not from a consumer product. Its supplier tested it and found a drop in purity after two weeks at 60 °C and no drop after two weeks at room temperature. Stored at minus 20 °C, the supplier's long-term data predict six years of stability. The supplier tells laboratories to keep the material "away from light, away from sources of heat, and in dry conditions" (Cayman Chemical, certificate of analysis for salvinorin A).
Leaf material and extracts are not a pure compound, so these figures do not transfer one to one. They do point the same way as common sense: heat is the main thing to avoid. A parked car in summer or a shelf above a radiator is a worse place than a drawer.
A practical routine
- Keep the original pack. It carries the product name, the strength and the shop's stated content. A loose pinch in an unmarked bag is the start of most mix-ups.
- Write the date you opened it on the pack. Without a shelf-life study, the date is the only way to know how old an opened pack is.
- Closed, dark, dry. A drawer or cupboard at room temperature. A small airtight tin or jar adds protection from humidity.
- Keep strengths apart. Two packs of different X in one tin look the same and are not. Store them in separate, labelled containers.
- Liquids upright and closed. The tincture and the spray are small bottles; keep the cap on and store them upright, away from heat and sunlight.
- Freezing is not needed for the amounts people keep at home. If you do store something cold, let the closed pack reach room temperature before opening it, so no condensation forms inside.
Keeping it away from others
Salvia extract looks like dried herb, and a tincture looks like any small bottle. That is exactly why it should not be left where someone else could take it for something ordinary. Avalon's spray page says to keep it out of reach of children, and the same goes for every form. Store it out of sight and, if there are children or visitors in the house, in a cupboard that locks.
Passing salvia on to anyone under 18 is never acceptable, and in several US states it is an offence in itself (see the legal status).
Old or unknown packs
If a pack has lost its label, or you cannot tell which strength it is, assume it is the strongest possibility or do not use it. The lab tests show how far two products with the same label can already differ; an unlabelled one has no reference at all. A pack that has been stored warm for a long time may be weaker than its label, and that is no reason to use more of it, because nobody can tell how much weaker.
When you travel
Do not take salvia across a border. In Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Ireland and several other countries the plant is controlled, and carrying it in counts as importing it. The legal status page has the details. For a stay in the Netherlands, the simplest plan is to buy what you need for that stay and not to take any home.
