How to properly store and sun-dry fresh ginseng

Fresh ginseng can be sun-dried directly, without wrapping it in paper. Place it in the sunlight to dry for 1-2 days, turning it 2-3 times a day, and make sure there is good ventilation. This dries out most of the moisture in the ginseng roots.

In the traditional processing steps for sun-dried ginseng, after sun-drying the ginseng there is another step called drying, in which the sun-dried ginseng is placed in a drying room specially used for drying ginseng, with the temperature controlled at 30-40°C for drying, and moisture is released every 1-20 min. Until the moisture content of the ginseng roots is 13% or below, it meets the moisture content requirements for commercial sun-dried ginseng.

For ginseng that is truly completely dry, it can be sealed in a plastic bag to isolate it from the air and stored in a cool place.

The Shennong Bencao Jing is the earliest extant monograph on traditional Chinese materia medica, and it records the essence of ginseng's medicinal use that had already taken shape in China 4000 years ago:

“Ginseng, sweet in flavor and slightly cold, mainly tonifies the five zang organs, calms the spirit, stabilizes the ethereal and corporeal souls, stops palpitations with fear, eliminates pathogenic qi, brightens the eyes, opens the heart and improves the intellect. Taken over a long time, it lightens the body and prolongs life. One name is Renxian, another name is Guigai. It grows in the valleys.”