Picking and processing of Chinese herbal medicine

Picking and processing of Chinese herbal medicine

Do you know what the picking and processing of Chinese herbal medicines is like? Chinese herbal medicine can't be directly used as medicine as soon as it is picked. Raw Chinese herbal medicines are not conducive to preservation and need to be reprocessed. I collected and sorted out the relevant information about the picking and processing of Chinese herbal medicines for everyone. Let's have a look.

Picking and processing of Chinese herbal medicines 1 Preparation before picking Chinese herbal medicines

Tools prepared include pruning shears, newspapers, plastic bags and work gloves. In order to avoid being bitten by thorns and mosquitoes, it is best to wear long-sleeved shirts and trousers. Feet are generally muddy, so it is more convenient to choose sneakers and boots and collect herbs. In order to avoid direct sunlight and rain, prepare hats (straw hats are best) and raincoats.

A place to pick herbs.

Avoid roadside with exhaust gas or fields with pesticide residues, nurseries and places where cats and dogs haunt. Try to go to places far away from the crowd, such as deep mountains or wasteland to pick. It is best not to pick in private mountains, homesteads, national parks and nature reserves.

Treatment of picking herbs

1, the efficacy of certain drugs will decline in the afternoon, while in herbs (generally speaking, herbs are growing plants with medicinal value; Herbal medicine is the abbreviation of "Chinese herbal medicine", that is, processed medicinal materials). It is ideal to pick 10 am in the morning. Don't root, in order to let the root grow again, you can keep the root. After collection, wash it with clear water, then wrap it in newspaper and put it in a slightly larger plastic bag. Poor air permeability will damage the efficacy, so the plastic bag mouth should be opened.

2. Wash away the dirt and impurities on the herbs. If you don't wash it, it will rot and the ingredients will volatilize. You should deal with it immediately after returning to China. When fresh leaves are used, they can be used directly after washing.

3. Dry the water, spread it out with bamboo baskets or newspapers, and dry it in the sun, one day in summer and 2-3 days in other seasons. Then dry in the shade for 4-5 days, and the drying time varies according to different regions and seasons. Gently rub it with your hand, and the stems and leaves will be crisp. It will absorb water when placed outdoors after evening, and it should be taken back indoors before 4 o'clock at the latest.

4. Herbs for making tea and bathing are most suitable for cutting into small pieces of 2~3 cm.

5. Put the dried herbs into a casserole or ceramic pot and stir-fry for a few minutes with low fire to prevent mildew.

6. Put herbs and desiccant together in containers such as paper bags, tea buckets and jars. Stored in a ventilated and dry place, bringing in moisture may cause mildew, so dry the water on your hands before taking the medicine.

Picking and processing of Chinese herbal medicine II. Pick by variety.

1, roots and rhizomes

Roots and rhizomes are the storage organs of plants. When the aboveground part begins to grow, it often consumes the nutrients stored in the roots, so it should be harvested during the dormant period when the plant stops growing, the flowers and leaves wither, or before germination in spring. If pueraria lobata is harvested in late autumn and winter, it will be solid powder. If spring grows on the ground, it will be completely pulverized and become firewood, so it cannot be used as medicine. Wild plant medicinal materials are not easy to find after the overground part withers in winter, so it is appropriate in late autumn and before the seedlings wither. However, there are exceptions, such as Bupleurum, Saposhnikovia divaricata and Changium smyrnioides should be harvested in spring, Ginseng should be harvested in summer, and Corydalis yanhusuo, Pinellia ternata and Rhizoma Corydalis should be harvested between Grain Rain and Changchun. Generally, when the land is wet after rain, use special tools to dig, and ginseng must protect its fibrous roots.

Roots and rhizomes often need to grow for more than one year before they can be used as medicine, generally it takes 2-5 years. Among cultivated medicinal materials, such as Paeonia lactiflora, it takes 3-4 years to grow, and ginseng takes more than 5 years. The growth period of wild people is longer. For example, wild astragalus takes 2-3 years to dig.

2. Root bark and bark

Relatively speaking, bark is mostly collected from Qingming to summer solstice. At this time, there are more plant juices, cambium cells divide rapidly, bark is easy to peel off, and the content of effective components is high, such as Eucommia ulmoides and Magnolia Officinalis. Root bark is harvested in winter, such as peony bark and wolfberry bark. Some medicinal materials can be collected when they are due.

The harvesting of root bark and bark is easy to damage the growth of plants, so we should pay attention to the harvesting method, and we should not peel the bark round and round, otherwise it will destroy the transportation system and make the trees die. Dig out the root bark and peel it off.

3. Leaves and whole grass

It should be harvested when the plants are growing most vigorously, or when the buds are about to open, or when the flowers are in full bloom and the fruit seeds are not yet mature. At this time, the plants have fully grown and are the most energetic. If ginseng leaves are picked in summer, the leaves are thick and green. But mulberry leaves need to be picked after frost, and loquat leaves and ginkgo leaves need to be collected after landing.

Most of the whole grass is harvested at flowering stage, and branches are cut off from the top of the roots or all branches are pulled up. Some only collect flower branches, while others also collect seedlings. For example, Artemisia scoparia should be collected at the beginning of spring when seedlings grow.

4. flowers

Special attention must be paid to the collection time of flower medicinal materials, because the flowering period is generally short, and improper collection time will have a great impact on the quality of medicinal materials. Usually collected when flowers are in full bloom or in bud, such as Inula, Chrysanthemum, etc., and collected when they are first released; Picking honeysuckle and magnolia when they are in bud; Sophora japonica and clove should not be picked when flowers are in full bloom. Therefore, the decrease in the content of effective components affects the drug effect, and the petals are easy to fall off and the quality is poor. For example, safflower is yellow at first, then orange-red, and finally dark red. It is best to harvest when it is orange-red.

Flowers should be picked in the sunny morning when the dew is first dry, which is conducive to rapid drying. Thorny plants, such as safflower, should be picked when the dew is still wet. Some thorns on the back, branches and bracts will stab the fingers of the gatherers.

5. Fruits and seeds

Except for a few medicinal materials, such as green tangerine peel, green plum and immature bitter orange, general fruits should be harvested at full maturity or near maturity; Juicy berries are easy to deteriorate, so they should be harvested and processed in time; Dried fruits and capsules must be harvested in time before they are ripe, and they will crack and spread when they are ripe.

Seed medicinal materials can only be harvested after they are fully mature. When harvesting, it can be picked by hand or cut off with branches, and then harvested after drying.

6, bacteria, algae, spores

Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, algae and spores are harvested according to their own characteristics. For example, Poria cocos is harvested in the early autumn with good quality, and puffball is harvested when the fruiting body is just ripe, and the spores will fly away before it is too late.