What are the conservation methods of Chinese herbal medicines?

The examination of Chinese herbal medicines and Chinese herbal pieces is becoming more and more strict, focusing on screening unqualified products such as excessive sulfur content, mildew and poor quality. Chinese herbal medicines and Chinese herbal pieces are prone to problems such as moth-eaten, mildew and discoloration in high temperature and high humidity environment. In the past, many practical and toxic sulfur fumigation methods were used as the main method of Chinese herbal medicine conservation, but this harmful maintenance method was eliminated. At present, the commonly used green environmental protection and safe maintenance method in China is the modified atmosphere technology of Chinese herbal medicines.

When the oxygen concentration is lower than 2% and the carbon dioxide concentration is higher than 5%, all the live insects and eggs of common Chinese herbal medicines such as corn weevil, Indian weevil and rice weevil die, and all kinds of aerobic molds such as Mucor, Cladosporium citricola and Aspergillus flavus disappear.

The principle of modified atmosphere preservation technology of Chinese herbal medicines developed by Hejun Baian is to control the air composition in a closed space by comprehensive physical and chemical methods, create a closed environment for killing insects and eggs and inhibiting the growth and reproduction of molds, and at the same time inhibit the discoloration of Chinese herbal medicines, keep the internal water of Chinese herbal medicines from losing, and combine prevention and control to achieve the effect of keeping the quality and appearance quality of Chinese herbal medicines unchanged.

The main functions of modified atmosphere preservation of Chinese herbal medicines can be insecticidal, insect-proof, mildew-proof and discoloration. Compared with traditional curing methods such as sulfur fumigation, this technology is safer, greener and more widely used. It is not only suitable for Chinese herbal medicines piled up in warehouses, but also suitable for bagged and canned pieces, which is a relatively mainstream maintenance method in China.