(1) Due to different processing methods, ginseng can be roughly divided into six categories: red ginseng, sun-dried ginseng, sugar ginseng, vigorously ginseng, freeze-dried ginseng and canned fresh ginseng. We only need to process the main commodities, red ginseng and sun-dried ginseng. The main processing technology is as follows:
Red ginseng should be high-quality fresh ginseng with full meat, beautiful appearance and no pests and diseases. Pinch off the small hairs on the main roots and lateral roots respectively (the hairs should be placed separately according to the size to make straight hair and curved hair), then wash them with clear water, classify them according to the size, and put them upside down in the ginseng tray. Don't put them too tightly to avoid poor vapor permeability. Cover it with a white drawer and put it in a closed steam tank. If it is a small amount of processing, it can be placed in a cage drawer, and it can be placed on the drawer and surrounded by a drawer cloth to avoid steam leakage. After SAIC maneuver, the temperature was kept at 98 ~ 100℃, ginseng for 3 hours, ginseng for 2 hours and 30 minutes to 2 hours and 40 minutes. Turn off the steam. After 30 minutes, the temperature will drop slowly, then open the lid of the cupboard door or drawer and stop 10 ~ 20 minutes until the cloth in the drawer is slightly cool. Then take out the ginseng, put it on the drying plate again, and straighten the ginseng beard, not too close. Cool and dry the steam, put it into the kang room, keep the temperature at 60 ~ 70℃ 12 hours, change the position of the ginseng tray and exhaust the steam frequently, and gradually cool down when the ginseng must turn red, and carry it out of the kang room. Put the ginseng together, spray a proper amount of warm water, and cover it with a wet sack for 10 ~ 12 hours to soften the ginseng. Then, according to the size of ginseng root and the thickness of branch root, the branch root is cut off at a proper position, so that the branch root left on the main root has different lengths and beautiful appearance. Put the cut roots and beards together, then straighten the roots and align them with the upper end, each with a diameter of about 4.5 cm, and tie them tightly with a thread, which is a red straight beard, and the rest of the hair is a red curved beard. After the beard is cut, the red ginseng is put on the plate and dried for the second time. When the sun is full, it can also be combined with drying until it is completely dry. This is red ginseng.
The processing of sun-dried ginseng is relatively simple, and ginseng that needs to be completely sun-dried does not need to be shaved. Don't break the ginseng beard when washing, try to keep the shape intact. Dry the cleaned ginseng roots until the epidermis is dry, and then put them into a fumigation chamber, and a small amount can be put into a fumigation chamber to be fumigated with sulfur 10 ~ 12 hours. Then put it into a drying room, keep it at 32 ~ 40℃ for 24 hours, and then take it out to dry. It can also be dried at 40 ~ 50℃ to obtain commercial sun-dried ginseng.
(2) The products processed by American ginseng mainly include raw American ginseng and powdered American ginseng. The processing of powdered American ginseng is troublesome, and it needs to be rubbed with fine sand to remove the epidermis, resulting in more drug losses. Therefore, it is rarely processed now, and only raw American ginseng is generally processed. The processing method of raw skin American ginseng is as follows:
① Wash ginseng with clear water or ginseng cleaning machine. Manual ginseng washing is to put the dug ginseng into a water tank (or sink), inject clean water, and stir it back and forth with a wooden stick to wash away the sediment attached to the roots of ginseng. Then take out the ginseng root, put it in a second water tank, add clean water and stir it several times. Pour out the muddy water in the first tank, then take out the washed ginseng roots in the second tank, put them in the first tank and wash them with clean water. Repeat this several times until the water is not turbid. Take out the washed roots, put them on a clean table, classify them according to size, and put them on the drying tray (bamboo strips, reeds and other materials can be nailed to the bottom of the drying tray). Put one layer on each plate, one next to the other, without overlapping. The washed American ginseng is as white as jade, so lovely. Then, put the cleaned fresh ginseng into a drying tray, dry it outdoors for half a day to 1 day, and then move it into a drying room for drying.
In some places, fresh ginseng is directly washed with clean water pressed by high-pressure water pump. After cleaning, if there is still a small amount of soil stuck on the reed bowl and branch root bifurcation, or some scars have not fallen off, use a soft brush or scraper to gently brush or scrape them off, and then clean them.
There are two points to pay attention to when washing ginseng: ① The soaking time of ginseng roots should not be too long, generally 20 ~ 30 minutes. If the soaking time is too long, the water-soluble components in the roots will be soaked out, thus reducing the quality of goods. 2 When washing ginseng, don't use the method of washing ginseng. Brush ginseng too hard or even brush off the epidermis. This looks very white and gratifying, but it actually reduces the quality of American ginseng. And it's easy to mistake ginseng for ginseng.
(2) There are many drying methods of Panax quinquefolium, depending on the yield, the specific conditions of each producing area and the scale of production, or drying in a drying room, or building a glass greenhouse and a plastic greenhouse, using solar energy to dry, or directly using sunlight to dry outdoors. These methods all adopt variable temperature drying method. The drying room adopts the way of artificial heating and temperature change, and the latter two are natural temperature change.
A. Drying method in drying room In some large-scale professional competition venues, American ginseng has a large planting area and a large output, and it is mostly dried in drying room. The temperature changing methods in the drying process are: low temperature first, then slightly high temperature, and then medium temperature; First low temperature, then medium temperature, then slightly high temperature; Medium temperature first and then low temperature. In general, the maximum drying temperature should not exceed 47℃. The drying room requires good thermal insulation and is equipped with heating, temperature regulation and dehumidification systems. This is the way of mass production.
Dried American ginseng is moved into the drying room in a whole plate and placed on the shelf according to the size. The big American ginseng is placed at a slightly higher temperature, and the small American ginseng is placed at a lower temperature. The height, number and scale of clothes racks and the size of drying trays should be designed according to the size of drying room and the principle of convenient operation.
The temperature in the drying process should be controlled differently according to different drying methods. If the drying method of low temperature first, then slightly high temperature and then medium temperature is adopted, that is, drying at 20 ~ 25℃ for 2 ~ 3 days. Then slowly raise the temperature to 37 ~ 43℃ and bake for 8 ~ 10 days. Then slowly cooling to 32-35 DEG C, and completely drying the American ginseng. During the drying process, the drying tray should be moved frequently to make its up-and-down position constantly change, so as to achieve the purpose of uniform heating and uniform drying. It is also necessary to regularly exhaust air and dehumidify, so that the water vapor evaporated from ginseng roots indoors can be discharged outdoors in time, and the drying speed of American ginseng can be accelerated. Usually it can be done in 3 ~ 4 weeks. This kind of American ginseng is dry inside and outside, compact in structure, solid in texture, normal in skin color and rich in flavor.
In the drying method of low temperature, medium temperature and slightly high temperature, fresh American ginseng was placed at about 27℃ for 2 ~ 3 days to remove surface moisture. When the taproot becomes soft, it is slowly heated to about 38℃, and when the branch root becomes hard, it is heated to 47℃ and completely dried; The method of medium temperature drying first and then low temperature drying was adopted. First, the fresh American ginseng is dried at 37 ~ 43℃ until the main root loses water and wilts, and the fibrous root is crisp. Then cool to about 32℃ and dry thoroughly.
During the whole drying process, hot air should always be sent by blower, and the moisture evaporated from ginseng roots in the room should be removed by dehumidifier, and the temperature and humidity in the drying room should be controlled. Because of the low drying temperature and slow drying speed, controlling the humidity in the drying room has great influence on the drying speed and product quality of ginseng roots. If the humidity is too high, the ginseng root is not easy to dry, and the drying time is too long, and the ginseng root is easy to turn dark brown, and the big one will turn sour, thus greatly reducing the quality of commercial American ginseng. Generally, the lower the humidity, the faster the drying speed and the shorter the time required. Therefore, it is very important to adjust the humidity in the drying room during the drying process. According to the summary of processing experience in various places, it is considered that the humidity in the drying room is controlled at about 60% in the early stage of drying, at about 50% in the middle stage and below 40% in the later stage, and the drying time of American ginseng is short and the quality is good.
B. glass room or plastic shed drying method This drying method mainly uses sunlight as energy, so there must be sunny weather. Late autumn in the north is a season of crisp autumn, drought and little rain, and it is the best time to use solar energy.
When this drying method is adopted, firstly, the cleaned and dried American ginseng is moved into a glass room or a plastic greenhouse and placed on a shelf. Generally, the big one is placed on the shelf where the sun can shine, and the small one is placed in the middle and lower part of the shelf. Because the indoor temperature is mainly heated and dried by solar energy, it is greatly affected by the weather and is difficult to control. Generally, the daytime temperature is 25 ~ 45℃, and if there is sufficient sunshine, the temperature can rise above 50℃. However, the night temperature can be reduced to below 25℃, and the lowest night temperature in 10 can be reduced to about 15℃. If it is rainy, the temperature will be lower during the day and at night, and the air humidity will be higher. If you add a heating kang indoors, you can make a fire to heat it in rainy days, so the drying quality can be guaranteed. Ventilation window or exhaust fan should be used during the day, and the opening time should be adjusted according to sunshine and indoor air temperature and humidity to facilitate dehumidification and cooling, and it should be closed at night and cloudy days. It is also necessary to change the position of the upper and lower drying plates frequently, so that the ginseng roots are evenly heated and dried. The drying time takes 2 ~ 3 weeks.
When drying, always pay attention to the changes of indoor temperature and humidity. We can control the change of temperature and humidity by opening wind windows, exhausting fans and adding fire prevention. The temperature should not be too high or too low. If the indoor temperature exceeds 50℃ for a long time, it will lead to the loss of volatile oil in the roots, which will deepen the surface color of the roots and turn them into reddish brown and brown inside. After the volatile oil seeps out, the aroma of ginseng roots becomes weak and the commodity value decreases. If the temperature is too low, especially in rainy days, the drying time will be prolonged, the root surface will turn dark brown, the inside will turn blue-brown, sour, and serious mildew and deterioration will occur. Therefore, it is very necessary to add a fire kang in a glass room or plastic shed in order to keep warm by fire when it rains.
C. Outdoor drying method Because of the small planting area, low yield and no drying equipment, individual farmers have to use the sun to dry American ginseng. If you can't sun ginseng on rainy days, the surface of ginseng roots will turn dark brown after a long time. Therefore, in rainy days, ginseng should be moved indoors and baked with fire. But the temperature should not be too high, generally controlled at around 40℃. In the process of sun exposure, you must turn carefully and be careful not to break the fibrous roots. Using this method to dry American ginseng, the drying time is long and the quality of ginseng is poor.
The surface of dried American ginseng is khaki, with deep and thin ring lines, sparse horizontal lines, dense structure and hard texture. Most of them are cylindrical, and there are few protrusions. The cross section is slightly horny, yellow and white, and the cambium has yellow-brown chrysanthemum rings. The smell is fragrant, the taste is slightly bitter and spicy, and it is sweet.
(3) After the product is graded and dried, the American ginseng should be re-processed, reshaped and graded, mainly by cutting off the lateral roots and the reed heads. But some don't cut reed heads. The processed products should give people aesthetic appearance and improve the quality of goods and economic benefits.
Generally, thin lateral roots can be broken by hand. The end of the main root and the thicker lateral root should be cut off with scissors. The end of the main root of long branch ginseng is sharp and should be cut off, and the longer one should be cut short appropriately. If ginseng is short, two branches are usually used. When pruning, the thick ones can be kept long and the thin ones can be kept short, but the longest one cannot exceed 1.5 cm. Short ginseng often has multiple branches and should be cut off. Pruning should be carried out according to the length of ginseng and the requirements of goods, not too short, so as not to reduce the weight of a single ginseng and affect the product value. At the same time, we should also take care of the beauty of the figure, the cutting force should be uniform and the incision should be neat. After trimming and shaping, it should be packaged according to the thickness and length.
Commercial American ginseng can be divided into long-branched ginseng, middle-branched ginseng, short-branched ginseng and pimple ginseng according to their body types. The long branch ginseng with a body length of more than 8 cm, the middle branch ginseng with a body length of 5-8 cm, the short branch ginseng with a body length of 2.5-5 cm, and the block ginseng with a body length of less than 2.5 cm are called block ginseng. All kinds of ginseng should be divided into one, two, three and four grades according to the thickness and single weight. Those cut lateral roots can be cut into sections of different lengths according to their thickness. Fibrous roots and unqualified ginseng can be ground into powder, sieved with 100 mesh and encapsulated. Thick ones can also be sliced and packed in small packaging bags. Doing so can improve the value of goods. Goods with different lengths and thicknesses without processing and shaping are called unified goods, which are low in price and uneconomical. Generally, ginseng and ginseng have higher prices.
Good harvest and processing is the last link of American ginseng planting. Be careful when operating. Especially in the two processes of drying, trimming and setting, we must send technicians to take care of them on duty and manage them in strict accordance with the operating procedures to achieve high quality and high efficiency. Otherwise, after five years of hard work (including 1 year land preparation), the results obtained through hard work and a lot of investment will cause huge losses because the drying quality can not meet the requirements. Therefore, we must pay attention to it, so that the cultivation and production of American ginseng can finally achieve high quality, high yield and high efficiency.