Harvesting and Storage techniques of Eucommia ulmoides

Eucommia ulmoides is full of treasures, and its leaves, skins and seeds are not only medicines, natural health products, but also raw materials for extracting Eucommia gum. The harvest and storage of Eucommia ulmoides directly affect its yield and quality.

I. harvesting and storage of leaves

1. The selection of leaf-picking trees. ⑴ selects trees without diseases and insect pests and trees that have not been sprayed with pesticides to prevent the germs, insect spots and pesticide residues on the leaves from causing toxicity to the human body; ⑵ picks green leaves and avoids picking yellowing leaves, because of the high content of active components in green leaves and less yellowing leaves; ⑶ is used to extract Eucommia ulmoides gum leaves without decay and deterioration.

2. The time of medicinal leaf picking. Generally, the time of picking leaves can be from July to October, and August is the best time for picking leaves. When it is used to extract Eucommia ulmoides leaves from Eucommia ulmoides gum, the fallen leaves in November are the best from the point of view of never affecting the growth of trees.

3. The treatment after picking leaves. In order to prevent decay, Eucommia ulmoides leaves should be spread indoors after harvest and treated in time. The common way to kill the green is to use an ordinary iron pan as a frying pan, stir-fry until the leaves lose luster, the leaves are dark green, the leaves are soft, the leaves are not sticky, and the weight loss is about 30%. You can also use a green pan to kill the green at a temperature of about 200 ℃ for 5 minutes. Eucommia ulmoides leaves specially used for glue making are not treated with green treatment, but Eucommia ulmoides gum can still be extracted from treated leaves.

4. Storage. After curing, the leaves of Eucommia ulmoides should be baked or dried in time and bagged without impurities. Eucommia ulmoides leaves for glue should also be dried and bagged and stored in a dry and ventilated warehouse, paying attention to moistureproof, sun protection, insect protection and rodent protection.

II. Harvesting and storage of skins

1. Harvest time. Generally between spring and summer, due to different climatic conditions, the specific time is different. It is most suitable to peel when the sap is smooth and the phloem and xylem are most easily separated.

2. Harvesting method. Select a robust plant with a breast diameter of more than 12 cm, first cut around the base of the trunk with a sharp knife, take this as a starting point, cut 1 knife every 40-80 cm ring, cut 1 knife vertically between the two rings, gently move the bark from the longitudinal cut with a piece of bamboo after cutting, separate the bark from the xylem, pry while peeling, you can peel off the whole bark; young trees with breast diameter less than 12 cm are strictly forbidden to peel off the bark.

3. Treatment after harvest. After the skin is stripped, it is ironed with boiling water, then unfolded and placed on the straw or wheat straw mat in a ventilated and sheltered place, so that the bark of Eucommia ulmoides is closely overlapped, then flattened with wood and stone, and covered with straw bags or gunny bags. Check after 7 days, if the endothelium is dark brown or purple brown, you can take out the sun-dried, press flat, the sun-dried Eucommia ulmoides should be planed with a planer, planing should be paid attention to, and finally use a brown brush to clean the plaster.

4. Grading and packing. Eucommia ulmoides bark varies in size, thickness and quality, so it should be packed in different grades. The current standard of national traditional Chinese medicine acquisition is to take width and thickness as the main index to determine the grade, and length as the secondary index. The bark of Eucommia ulmoides is divided into 4 grades: ⑴ special class: dry goods flat, neat at both ends, clean rough skin, grayish brown surface, dark brown inside, crisp, and connected by glue wire at the broken place. Taste slightly bitter, length 70-80cm, width more than 50cm, thickness more than 0.7cm, fragments not more than 10%, no rolls, impurities, mildew; ⑵ first class: dry goods flat, neat at both ends, clean rough skin, grayish brown surface, inside dark brown, crisp, broken with glue connected. Taste slightly bitter, length more than 40cm, width more than 40cm, thickness more than 0.5cm, fragments not more than 10%, no curls, impurities, mildew; ⑶ second class: dry goods flat or curly, surface grayish brown, inside bluish brown, crisp, broken with glue connected. Taste slightly bitter, length more than 40cm, width more than 30cm, thickness more than 0.3cm, fragments not more than 10%, no impurities, mildew; ⑷ III: does not meet the special, first and second class standards, the thinnest thickness is not less than 0.2cm, including branch bark, root bark, fragments belong to this kind, but there should also be no impurities and mildew.

5. Storage. The graded Eucommia ulmoides bark is sorted and packed, arranged neatly, bundled into pieces of 50kg each and stored in a dry place.

III. Harvest and storage of seeds

The main contents are as follows: 1. the selection of seed trees. Trees with strong growth, sufficient light, smooth bark, no diseases and insect pests and unpeeled trees for more than 15 years should be selected. Special attention should be paid to the seeds of mother trees after peeling, because Eucommia ulmoides is peeled after fruiting, which destroys the nutrient transport system. The appearance of the seeds is similar to mature, but in fact, the development is not sound, the kernel is not full, the vitality is weak, and the content of physiologically active substances is low.

2. The time of seed collection. The seeds of Eucommia ulmoides must be collected in time, usually from October to November. Prematurely, the seed embryo is underdeveloped, the seed is not fully mature, the oil content is low, the water content is high, the breathing is exuberant, and it is easy to mildew; too late, the seed is easy to be blown away by the wind. The characteristics of seed maturity are: pericarp brown, brown or yellowish brown, glossy, full seeds, endosperm white, cotyledons oblate, beige.

3. Harvesting method. Choose a sunny day without wind or light wind, the seeds are not easy to fall and fly away. Tap with a bamboo pole or shake the branch with your hand to make it fall off. At the same time, bamboo mats or curtains are laid on the ground at a certain distance from the mother tree in the downwind direction to receive the fallen seeds. Never cut down branches to collect seeds. Cutting branches affects not only the seed set in the following year, but also the growth of the mother tree.

4. Seed treatment and storage. After the seeds are collected, they should be dried in a ventilated and cool place, and should not be dried by fire or hot sun. After the seeds are shaded and dried, they can be stored in a cool and ventilated place. Do not accumulate too thick to prevent fever.