Most of us toss the grapefruit seeds, but after reading this, you might decide to save them and learn how to make grapefruit seed extract cleaner, disinfectant and more!

Not only are grapefruit seeds potent little germ killers, but it’s easy to make extract or oil from this refuse that’s usually discarded. You can make homemade grapefruit seed extract disinfectant for cleaning and more.

The main difference between the grapefruit seed extract versus grapefruit seed oil is that the extract is concentrated, whereas the oil is the extract added to—and diluted by—oil.

Homemade Disinfectant

When we shared an article on dandelions for food, tea and medicine, GardensAll Facebook community member, Olive Bolivar, shared about her experience with homemade disinfectant using grapefruit seed

I LOVE dandelions. Always have. We make wine and use the leaves in salad. Our yard is a highway for all kinds of wildlife so I soak my greens for about 15 minutes in a solution using grapefruit seed oil to cleanse them.
~Olive Bolivar, gardener, GardensAll community member

Homemade Disinfectant for Wild Edibles

Great idea to soak wild edibles first. We have loads of chickweed in our yard but most of it goes unharvested because we also have dogs. However, this tip from Olive on using grapefruit seed oil as a disinfectant is a great solution, so we ordered some grapefruit seed extract (often called GSE) from Amazon.

Alternately, whenever you have grapefruit on hand, you can save the seeds for making homemade grapefruit seed extract cleaner. Beyond a disinfectant, you can also use it medicinally in smoothies. We make a blended citrus “Julius” using the pulp, pith and seeds of grapefruit as well as oranges, with vanilla extract and a little almond or coconut milk for a delicious and healthy treat.

If we’re eating the fruit instead of juicing it, we save the seeds and dry them until we’ve collected enough to make grapefruit seed extract cleaner. We also use the peel to make DIY citrus cleaner vinegar cleaner.

Grapefruit Seed Extract Cleaner and Disinfectant

Contributed by GardensAll community member, Olive Bolivar

Grapefruit seed oil (GSE) is sold on several online sites and you can usually find it in natural food stores. as well as on Amazon.

It’s not a well known disinfectant, but it is a good one. We lived in several countries where fresh produce wasn’t safe until disinfected, so we always soaked it before it went on the table.

Over the past several years, we’ve had numerous epidemic poisonings in the USA that originated from unclean produce. Now I follow the same food safety practices we used in other countries when we get produce from commercial sources, I’m not so much worried with local organically grown produce.

Olive went on to say:

I had trouble finding out the best way to disinfect produce in the beginning, but after a lot of research came across grapefruit seed oil. People also use a (VERY) weak Clorox solution—something I wouldn’t do because Clorox is toxic; and others use vinegar disinfecting.

Don’t use salt as it will draw nutrients out of your fresh vegetables.

Editor’s Note: Our research indicated that vinegar is not a proven disinfectant. Please send us the research link if you discover otherwise.

Homemade Disinfectant for Cleansing Produce

• 10 drops Grapefruit Seed Exract (GSE) to 1 gallon of water
• Soak vegetables 15-30 minutes

The solution can be used again, but I only use it about 3 times before making fresh.

Don’t rinse your produce after soaking. Lay it out on the counter on top of a thick towel and let the moisture evaporate, then store in the refrigerator as usual.

Editor’s Note: Other sources say to rinse produce in water afterwards. Our take is that it depends on where in the world you are. If you’re in a country where you cannot drink the water such as India or Mexico, then let it dry without rinsing it again, as Olive indicates.

GSE will help destroy Salmonella and E.Coli bacteria.

Grapefruit Seed Extract Research

We love using natural home remedies whenever possible, so after reading Olive’s comments about GSE we dove into some of the research on it. Indeed, Olive is right, it’s known to be very good at cleaning produce, amongst many other uses, with many beneficial uses of grapefruit seed extract.

Benefits of Grapefruit Seed Extract

Grapefruit seed extract kills all kinds of infectious microbes—bacterial, viral, and fungal. GSE kills antibiotic-resistant UTIs, remedies fungal infections, relieves athletes foot and nail fungus, and treats digestive disturbances.

You can find much more research based benefits of grapefruit seed extract here.

How to Make Grapefruit Seed Extract

To make grapefruit seed extract, you’ll need:

Ingredients:

• 100-200 grapefruit seeds
• 1 cup of water
• High-proof alcohol (vodka or ethanol)

Instructions:

1. Remove the seeds from the grapefruit and rinse them thoroughly to remove any pulp or debris.
2. Put the seeds in a blender and pulse them until they are finely ground.
3. Transfer the ground seeds to a jar and add the water.
4. Stir in a high-proof alcohol, such as vodka or ethanol, until the mixture reaches a 1:1 ratio of liquid to seeds.
5. Seal the jar and let it sit in a cool, dark place for 4-6 weeks. Shake the jar every few days to help the alcohol extract the beneficial compounds from the seeds.
6. After 4-6 weeks, strain the mixture through a fine mesh strainer or cheesecloth to remove the seeds.
7. Transfer the extract to a clean bottle and store it in a cool, dark place.

NOTE: The concentration and quality of the extract will vary depending on the type of alcohol used and the number of seeds. Experiment to find the ratio that works best for you.

For Garden Produce to Wild Edibles

And… of course for gardeners, foragers, wildcrafters (and anyone concerned about store-bought produce), as a fruit and veggie wash.

Grapefruit Seed Extract (GSE) is a disinfectant and anti-fungal, and as effective at getting rid of candida as any of the prescriptions medications for that pervasive ailment.

How to Take Grapefruit Seed Extract

IMPORTANT: Check with your physician if you’re on any kind of medication, as there are contraindications that GSE can interfere with the absorption of medicine. Also, it is not recommended to give GSE to children without a doctor’s approval and supervision.

Grapefruit Seed Extract Dosage

10 drops GSE in a glass of water 1-3 x daily, with or without meals.

Naturally, the GSE is extremely bitter. If you find this intolerable, you can take GSE capsules instead, according to the manufacturer’s—or your physician’s—instructions.

As with any antibiotic, grapefruit extract may deplete your good gut bacteria if taken long term. Follow all safety protocols, beginning with your physician’s recommendations and product dosage guidelines.

If you’re taking GSE for three or more days, it’s good to consume a probiotic supplement as well. ^[1]https://universityhealthnews.com/daily/nutrition/grapefruit-seed-extract-uses-and-benefits/

Grapefruit seed extract is extraordinarily potent. Be safe and follow instructions.

Forms of GSE

Grapefruit seed comes in numerous forms, such as:

• Grapefruit seed oil
• Liquid extract
• Capsules
• Throat spray
• Nasal spray
• Ear drops
• Mouthwash and gargles
• Toothpaste
• Shower gel
• Wound disinfectant sprays

When we don’t have enough grapefruit seeds on hand to make grapefruit seeds, we order one of the more popular forms of grapefruit seed extract. Many of the store-bought grapefruits of today are classified as seedless, which means there are only tiny shells of seeds, or the occasional 1-2 full bodied seeds.

Meanwhile, we’ll definitely use it for washing edibles from our yard, such as some of the dandelion and chickweed that’s everywhere, yummy and oh so healthy!

Another Natural Remedy for Cold, Flu, Antibacterial, and More

We’ve experienced fantastic benefits from structured silver for anything from infections to viruses, cold, flu and more. We’ve found the structured silver to be even more beneficial than colloidal silver, and you can learn more about that in these podcast episodes on silver for cold and flu, as well as this one on the benefits of silver.

Stay healthy and keep on growing!