How to dry Gastrodia elata

Gastrodia elata is a traditional Chinese medicinal material that has a good effect in treating many diseases. However, the shelf life of fresh Gastrodia elata is not very long, generally only two months. If too much is stored, it will easily deteriorate, thus affecting the efficacy of the medicine. If you want to extend the shelf life of Gastrodia elata, drying it into dried Gastrodia elata is a good choice, which can greatly extend the storage time. So, how to dry Gastrodia elata? Let’s take a look below.

1. Overview of Gastrodia elata:

Gastrodia elata is a traditional precious Chinese medicinal material with a history of more than 2,000 years of use as medicine. Its main ingredient is gastrodin. Yunnan Gastrodia has the highest content of gastrodin. It is distributed in Anhui, Zhejiang, Hubei, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Guizhou, Hunan, Henan, Jilin, Liaoning and other provinces.

Gastrodia elata is harvested in spring from April to May and is called "spring hemp"; Gastrodia elata harvested in September to October before the beginning of winter is called "winter hemp", which has better quality.

After being harvested, Gastrodia elata needs to be processed. Through high temperature treatment, the tuber cells of Gastrodia elata are quickly killed and the activity of enzymes in the cells is inhibited. It is then dried in time to facilitate storage and transportation and effectively preserve its medicinal active ingredients. In particular, it is not suitable to store spring gastrodia after it is harvested, because as the temperature gradually rises, its above-ground stems continue to grow, and the gastrodia tubers will become hollow or moldy, affecting the quality of gastrodia.

2. Steaming of Gastrodia elata:

Currently, farmers process Gastrodia elata by steaming and boiling. Since the medicinal ingredients of Gastrodia elata are less lost when processed by steaming, steaming is the best method for standardized processing of Gastrodia elata.

After the Gastrodia elata is graded, it should be steamed in time. Generally, the first-grade Gastrodia elata is steamed on high heat for 20-30 minutes, the second-grade for 15-20 minutes, the third-grade for 10-15 minutes, and the fourth-grade for 8-10 minutes. If you steam the Gastrodia elata properly and hold it up to the light in the dark, you can see a slight dark shadow in the middle of the transparent Gastrodia elata. If you break the Gastrodia elata open for inspection, you can see a slight white core in the middle (accounting for about one-fifth of the diameter of the Gastrodia elata). If it is over-steamed, the dryness rate of Gastrodia elata will be reduced.

If the transparent "snow Gastrodia elata" is to be processed as a gift or for export, the rough skin on the surface of the Gastrodia elata must be peeled off in time after steaming, or the rough skin of the Gastrodia elata must be scraped off before steaming.

3. Steam and dry the Gastrodia elata:

First dry it in a Gastrodia elata drying machine or Gastrodia elata drying room until it is half dry. In the initial stage of drying, the temperature should be kept at 50-60℃ and proper ventilation should be maintained. Then increase the temperature by 0.5℃ every hour and gradually increase it to 65℃. If the temperature is too high in the initial stage of drying, Gastrodia elata will easily become hollow; if the temperature is too low and the ventilation is poor, Gastrodia elata will easily deteriorate.

It is usually done when the hemp is 70% to 80% dry after baking or sun drying, but is still soft. At this time, take out the Gastrodia elata, straighten the hemp as much as possible, and then flatten it with a wooden board to make it more beautiful in appearance. If there are bubbles on the surface of the hemp, pierce them with a bamboo stick and continue drying.

Enter the Gastrodia elata drying machine or Gastrodia elata drying room again, maintain the temperature at 60-65℃, then gradually reduce it to 50℃ to dry the Gastrodia elata thoroughly. When Gastrodia elata is about to dry, if the temperature is too high, it will easily burn.