What steps are involved in the product processing of Chinese herbal medicines?

Postpartum processing of Chinese herbal medicines is also called origin processing. The processing of medicinal materials is very important and can't be ignored. The harvested fresh goods are dried in different ways and processed into commercial medicinal materials, not just dried. Medicinal material processing is the last step of medicinal material production, which is related to the quality and output of medicinal materials. If processed properly, it can not only improve the commodity grade of medicinal materials, but also increase the output, thus improving the economic benefits accordingly. Otherwise, years of hard work and a lot of investment will be mixed together, because this checkpoint is not handled well and the losses will be aggravated. So in the end, we must do a good job and strictly abide by the operating rules to avoid unnecessary losses.

The processing methods of different medicinal materials are very different, and some of them are very simple, as long as they are dried in the sun, dried in the shade or dried in the sun, such as most whole grass and seeds. Some are very complicated, such as most roots and rhizomes, and some need washing, peeling, shaping, cooking, soaking and bleaching, sulfur fumigation and other processes to dry. For example, aconite (expelling wind and removing dampness, treating collapse, kidney deficiency and edema, etc. ) is highly toxic, so measures such as salt water soaking and high-temperature cooking should be taken to reduce the toxicity. Every working procedure should be controlled moderately, otherwise it will cause unnecessary losses and waste, and even affect the quality of products.

In the process of insolation, medicinal materials should be turned frequently to prevent rain, and some should be piled up in a short time when the sun is 50% to 60% dry, so that the internal water can diffuse and the medicinal materials become soft, commonly known as "sweating", and then dried.

Some medicinal materials containing volatile oil, such as mint and perilla frutescens, should not be exposed to the sun, and should be dried in the shade, or dried to 70% or 80% first, and then dried in the shade shed to reduce the loss of volatile oil.

When drying by artificial heating, such as drying or drying on kang, we should not only pay attention to the thickness of medicinal materials, but also strictly control the firepower. Generally, we should master the temperature first, and then master the small fire to avoid burning or burning medicinal materials on kang or fire. In the past, in the Huanglian production areas of Hubei and Sichuan, because of poor fire control, Huanglian was burned and fires occurred from time to time. Therefore, we must strictly abide by the operating procedures to avoid unnecessary losses.