Interesting Tony, the alkanet root I have has been ground into a powder comparable to finely ground coffee. Is your oil made from marinating whole pieces of root in the oil or is the root ground like mine? If not I'd suspect that by grinding the root and exponentially increasing the surface area of the root one could shorten the marinating time significantly.
Steve
BTW I purchased my alkanet root from a "natural food suppliment" supplier.

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