Home › Medicinal Herb Cultivation › Article

Key Points on Harvesting and Processing Techniques for Licorice (Part Three)

Medicinal Herb Cultivation 0 views
For licorice propagated from seed, harvest in the 4th year; for licorice propagated from rhizomes, harvest in the 3rd year. Harvesting can be done either before Grain in Ear (Mangzhong) or after White Dew (Bailu), but harvesting after White Dew is preferable. After digging them up, cut off the branches and twigs while fresh, sun-dry until half dry, tie into small bundles separately according to thickness, and sun-dry until completely dry. Quality specifications for dry goods: cylindrical in shape, thick at the top and thin at the bottom with no reed head, surface purplish-red or grayish-brown, rough skin, loose and light in texture, cross-section yellow-white, starchy, sweet in taste, free from impurities, insect damage, and mildew. Grade One: length over 60 cm, diameter over 1

For licorice propagated from seed, harvest in the 4th year; for licorice propagated from rhizomes, harvest in the 3rd year. Harvesting can be done either before Grain in Ear (Mangzhong) or after White Dew (Bailu), but harvesting after White Dew is preferable. After digging them up, cut off the branches and twigs while fresh, sun-dry until half dry, tie into small bundles separately according to thickness, and sun-dry until completely dry.

Quality specifications for dry goods: cylindrical in shape, thick at the top and thin at the bottom with no reed head, surface purplish-red or grayish-brown, rough skin, loose and light in texture, cross-section yellow-white, starchy, sweet in taste, free from impurities, insect damage, and mildew. Grade One: length over 60 cm, diameter over 1.5 cm at 3 cm below the reed head, with occasional 5% of stems over 20 cm. Grade Two: length over 50 cm, diameter over 1 cm at 3 cm below the reed head. Grade Three: length over 40 cm, diameter over 0.5 cm at 3 cm below the reed head. Rough licorice: unsorted goods not divided into grades, consisting of small curved cylindrical stems, with residual stems removed, occasionally with knobby heads, regardless of length, diameter over 0.5 cm below the reed head, free from impurities and mildew.

Related Articles