Harvesting, processing and storage techniques of Gastrodia elata

Gastrodia elata is a kind of precious traditional Chinese medicine. To harvest and process Gastrodia elata is the key to improve the quality of Gastrodia elata. At the same time, Tianma commodity value is high, do a good job in the classification and storage of Tianma commodity is also very important. The methods of harvesting, processing, grading and storage of Gastrodia elata are introduced as follows:

1. Harvest

1. Harvest time. The harvest time of Gastrodia elata is generally from late autumn to early winter (i.e. October to November). At this time, Gastrodia elata has stopped growing, at this time harvest is convenient for processing, but also conducive to timely cultivation after harvest, and Gastrodia elata high yield, good quality.

2. Harvesting methods. When harvesting gastrodia elata, be careful not to damage the hemp body. First of all, carefully remove the topsoil, take out the bacteria and fillers in the upper layer of the soil, and then gently remove the gastrodia elata, so that layer by layer harvest. The extracted gastrodia elata should be classified, arrow hemp and big white hemp should be processed in time, and small white hemp and rice hemp should be used as seeds. Special attention should be paid to the proper storage of white hemp and rice hemp used for seed so as not to cause rotten seeds. The specific storage method is: first pinch the moist fine soil that can be formed into a group by hand, let go and spread to a certain degree on the flat ground, preferably 5~10 cm thick, then put the gastrodia elata seed layer on it, and then sprinkle 5 cm thick fine moist soil on it, and carefully put it when putting seeds. However, such storage time should not be too long, otherwise it will cause rotten seeds. It is best to harvest and cultivate at the same time, first prepare new fungi and wood segments.

II. Processing

First, the harvested gastrodia elata is washed with clean water, and the coarse skin on the surface of the tuber is gently scraped off with thin bamboo chips. It can also be washed with cleaning balls, and then divided into three grades: large (more than 200 grams), medium (100~200 grams) and small (less than 100 grams), which are respectively soaked in clean water, and processed in time by the following methods.

1. Cage steaming. First put the empty steamer in the pot and add water with big fire to boil the water in the pot, then put Gastrodia elata into the steamer according to the size, medium and small. Steaming large gastrodia elata for about 45 minutes, steaming medium for about 30 minutes, steaming small for about 15 minutes, steaming through is appropriate, that is, the black heart is invisible to the light. After steaming, take it out and put it on the baking rack prepared in advance for baking, and fumigate with a small amount of sulfur once, generally put 5 grams of sulfur per 10 kilograms of fresh gastrodia elata. When baking, it should be turned frequently, and the fire can be strong at the beginning. When baking until the hemp body begins to soften, it should be changed to slow fire baking to avoid the formation of separation layer and hollow appearance of hemp body, which will affect the quality. Once hemp skin blister, to use bamboo needle puncture. When baked to 6~7 thousand, take out and flatten with wood board, flatten and bake until completely dry to obtain commodity gastrodia elata. The gastrodia elata processed in this way has bright color and good quality. After steaming, it can also be exposed to sunlight, but it takes a long time, which is not conducive to improving quality. It can also be exposed to sunlight during the day and baked at night, which can save some fuel.

2. Boiling method. First boil the water, then press gastrodia elata large, medium and small respectively into boiling water to boil. Cook large gastrodia elata for about 15 minutes, medium gastrodia elata for about 10 minutes, and small gastrodia elata for about 5 minutes. After boiling, remove and bake. The baking method is the same as that of cage steaming. The use of boiling method will cause part of the nutrient loss in hemp body, so the quality is inferior to cage steaming method.

III. Classification

After processing, Gastrodia elata is graded according to commodity quality specifications. The prices of different grades of commodities vary greatly. Generally, it can be divided into three grades. The specific requirements are as follows:

1. First class. Dry goods, tubers for the flat long oval, surface no coarse skin and yellow white, translucent, individual fruit, no moth, no mildew, no hollow, not more than 32 per kilogram.

2. Second class. Dry goods, tubers are flat long oval, surface without thick skin and yellow white, translucent, individual fruit uniform, cross-section horny, no moth, no mildew, no hollow, 33~80 per kilogram.

3. Third class. Dry goods, tubers are long oval, slightly flat, some curved, yellow white or yellowish brown surface, section horny, no moth, no mildew, more than 80 per kilogram. At the same time, it also includes color, hollow, fragments, but there must be no impurities, ash, etc.

IV. Storage

Processing good goods gastrodia elata, if not sold in time, it must be properly stored. Storage method is: with non-toxic plastic bags or other closed and not easy to absorb moisture appliances sealed in a ventilated, dry place to prevent moisture, so as not to affect the quality, 30~45 days to check the sun. Processing of goods gastrodia elata in summer will also suffer from insect infestation, so, in summer before the combination of turning sun with sulfur fumigation 1~2 times, can effectively prevent insect infestation.