How to Identify Wild Gastrodia Elata

Gastrodia elata is a relatively common Chinese medicine. It also has certain therapeutic and health-care effects. Gastrodia elata is mainly divided into cultivated Gastrodia elata and wild Gastrodia elata. From the nutritional point of view, wild Gastrodia elata is better. If you want to buy wild Gastrodia elata, you must learn to distinguish it. Their market prices are quite different. You must understand the characteristics of wild Gastrodia elata from the appearance to avoid being deceived. Let's take a look at this aspect.

How to Identify Wild Gastrodia Elata

The first difference is the price. The market price of real wild Gastrodia elata is around 1,000-1,200. If it is in a big city far away from the mountains, the price will be even higher. The price of artificial Gastrodia elata is generally around 80-400, and the specific price depends on the quality.

Secondly, the appearance of Gastrodia elata:

1. Due to the influence of the growing environment, wild Gastrodia elata is smaller and uneven in size, while artificial Gastrodia elata is larger, more uniform, and thicker.

2. Because wild Gastrodia elata grows in jungle soil with a lot of humus, most of them have black "skin" and do not look as shiny as artificial ones. Wild Gastrodia elata has fewer ring patterns, usually only about 10, with a pole on top and a large, round bottom. The surface is yellowish white or light brown and translucent.

3. Wild Gastrodia elata contains more medicinal ingredients, namely gastrodin, gastrodin ether and vanillin. Its special fragrance is incomparable to that of artificially cultivated ones, especially in terms of the persistence of the smell. After ordinary Gastrodia elata has been placed on the counter for a period of time, the smell can basically no longer be smelled, but the wild one is different. Even after a long period of time after being dried, it can remain for a long time without fading.

Where can I buy real wild Gastrodia elata?

1. There are very few large chain pharmacies and the prices are expensive. But there is a guarantee.

2. In large medicinal materials markets, this purchasing channel is very complicated and they usually deceive people who don’t know how to identify wild Gastrodia elata. They usually mistake artificial Gastrodia elata for wild Gastrodia elata. Therefore, the buyer himself needs to understand it very well.

3. In rural areas, this is a better way to buy. You can go to the farmer’s house and buy it directly. The price is cheap and it is real wild Gastrodia elata, so you don’t have to worry too much.

4. There are some real wild food selling websites on the Internet, such as Firefox Wild Food Network. A special reminder: Wild Gastrodia elata begins to be dug around May 1st of each year and is almost completed in June. So ad buyers are reminded to be mindful of timing.