Introduction to gastrodia：

  Gastrodia is harvested in winter and spring. The winter harvester is called winter hemp, which is of good quality; the spring harvester is called spring hemp, and the quality is not as good as winter hemp.

Gastrodia processing steps：

  After the gastrodia elata is excavated, the soil is quickly rinsed, and then it is placed in a ventilated place to dry on the surface, and then graded by size. Those with 150 grams or more are grade one, those with 100-150 grams are grade two, those with 50-100 grams are grade three, and those with 25-50 grams are grade four. Those below 25 grams are not suitable for processing and should continue to be reserved for seed use. Wild Gastrodia, processed separately below 25 grams. Damaged and moth-eaten gastrodiae shall be treated as defective products. Steaming, currently farmers process gastrodia elata, either steaming or boiling. Because gastrodia elata processed by steaming method has less loss of medicinal ingredients, gastrodia elata is processed in a standardized way, and steaming is best.
  After the gastrodia elata is graded, it is steamed in a basket in time. Normal-grade gastrodia elata steamed for 20-30 minutes, second-grade steaming for 15-20 minutes, third-grade steaming for 10-15 minutes, and fourth-grade steaming for 8-10 minutes. Steam the suitable gastrodia elata, pick it up and look at it in the dark, you can see a slight shadow in the middle of the transparent gastrodia elata. Open the gastrodia and check, it can be seen that there is a slight white heart in the middle (accounting for about one-fifth of the diameter of the anesthetic body). Excessive steaming will reduce the drying rate of Gastrodia elata.
  If it is processed as a gift or transparent "Snow Gastrodia" for export, it is necessary to peel off the rough skin of Gastrodia elata in time after steaming, or scrape off the rough skin of Gastrodia elata before steaming.

Gastrodia drying process：

  After the gastrodia is steamed, it is first dried in a drying room to semi-dry. In the initial stage of drying, the temperature should be maintained at 50°-60°C, and proper ventilation should be maintained. Afterwards, it will increase by 0.5°C every hour and gradually increase to 65°C. If the temperature is too high at the beginning of drying, gastrodia elata is prone to chaff. If the temperature is too low and the ventilation is not good, the gastrodia elata is easy to deteriorate. If the weather is fine, it can also be dried in the sun and night to reduce the drying cost. Gastrodia plastic surgery is usually done when it is dried or sun-dried until 70% to 80% dry and the hemp body is still soft. At this time, take out the gastrodia elata, straighten the body as much as possible, and then squeeze it with a wooden board to make the appearance more beautiful. If there are bubbles on the surface of the hemp body, use a bamboo stick to pierce it, and then continue to dry.
  After the gastrodia elata undergoes shaping, enter the dryer or drying room again, keep the temperature between 60°C and 65°C, then gradually reduce to 50°C, and dry the gastrodia elata thoroughly. When the gastrodia elata is about to dry, if the temperature is too high, it is easy to scorch the gastrodia kang. In this drying process, gastrodia elata is generally smoked with sulfur for 10-12 hours, and the amount of sulfur is about 10 grams per cubic meter of space. The smoked gastrodia elata is not only bright and white, but also can prevent mildew and insects, but there are drug residues. Processing and exporting gastrodia is not recommended.

Recommendation of gastrodia dryer/drying machine

Commercial 100-3000kg/h large amount of dehydration wide application and easy operation

  Heat pump drying machine use the principle of inverse Carnot cycle. It absorbs low-temperature heat energy in the air, which becomes high-temperature heat energy after efficient heat collection and integration by the heat pump system, and is transported to the drying room for cyclic heating and drying of materials.It refers to exhausting the hot and humid air in the drying room directly to the outside of the drying room through dehumidification device, and then replenishing natural fresh air.

  Hot air circle drying machine belongs to high temperature heat pump unit. Its working principle is: the working fluid of the heat pump is compressed by the compressor, becomes high temperature and high pressure gas, enters the condenser, condenses and liquefies the heat, and is used for air heating in the drying room. The moisture in the material is vaporized and evaporated by the form of hot air, and the evaporated water vapor is discharged by the moisture discharge system, thereby achieving the purpose of drying the drying material.


Gastrodia drying video：