There are four fears in the preservation of medicinal materials

It seems that traditional Chinese medicine "can withstand release", but if it is not properly preserved, it is also easy to accelerate expiration The shelf life of the following four kinds of medicinal materials is easy to be shortened, so attention should be paid to their preservation and use Huoxiang and other fragrant herbs: afraid of heat Volatile oil is an effective component in many traditional Chinese medicine, which plays a therapeutic role Generally, it has fragrance From its name, it is easy to volatilize It can smell obvious fragrance in the medicine If the taste of these herbs becomes lighter, the efficacy will also decrease Heating and decocting will accelerate the loss of volatile oil, so peppermint, Schizonepeta, agastache, perilla and other herbs with more volatile oil should be placed far away from the heat source, and should be later when decocting, so as not to reduce the efficacy Angelica and other oil-free herbs: afraid of moisture In the process of storage, due to moisture and other factors, the oil, sugar and other substances contained in the medicinal materials are easy to precipitate out of the surface of the medicinal materials, like a layer of oil, also known as "oil" Fruits and seeds are easy to get oil, such as almond, Ophiopogon japonicus, angelica, dangshen, Guiyuan, Lycium, etc Care should be taken to keep these herbs dry Ginseng and other worrisome herbs: fear of insects In the collection and preservation of traditional Chinese medicine, insects may invade or carry eggs, causing moth eaten After the medicinal materials are mothed, cavities and moth powder may occur Some pests propagate rapidly, which may make the medicinal materials "useless" Alisma orientalis, Astragalus membranaceus, rhubarb, ginseng and Angelica dahurica are more susceptible to moths The medicine with slight moth can be reused after processing, and the medicine with serious moth should be discarded in time Peony skin and other easily discolored herbs: afraid of sun exposure All herbs have their own color Peony skin may change color and reduce effect at the same time Some medicinal materials contain enzymes that are prone to oxidation and discoloration; too high temperature of sun and baking can also cause discoloration of medicinal materials Keep this kind of medicine away from the sun.