Drying methods of traditional Chinese medicine

Due to the fact that traditional Chinese medicine is processed using dry materials, each of which has a particular nature and is not similar, the drying needs for the product should be determined by the nature of the medication's component parts.

1.Normal pressure drying

(1) Drying

Under normal pressure, it is used to dry the material on a dry plate. The oven and the drying chamber have dry equipment. The oven has an industrial oven, a hot air oven, and an electric drying oven. The drying pace is slower since the material is static. This technique works well with hot, stable, moist solid materials, including pellets, granules, and pelletized medications. The material on the drying plate cannot be piled too high in order to speed up the drying process; instead, the material must be adjusted and damp air must be promptly expelled.

(2) Drum drying

It is used to dry the material on a dry plate when the pressure is normal. Dry equipment can be found in the oven and drying chamber. An industrial oven, a hot air oven, and an electric drying oven are all included in the oven. Given that the material is static, the drying process takes longer. Pellets, granules, and pelletized pharmaceuticals are examples of hot, stable, wet solid materials that respond well to this approach. To speed up the drying process, the material on the drying plate cannot be heaped too high; rather, the material must be adjusted and moist air must be rapidly removed.

(3) Belt drying

It refers to the method of drying the moisture in wet materials by spreading the wet material on the conveyor belt and heating it with dry heat or infrared. This method is used for the drying of Chinese herbal medicine and tea.

2.Reduced pressure drying

It is also called vacuum drying. refers to a process of heating and drying that involves intermittent operation, a dry dish, and a closed oven. Its traits include dryness, low temperature, quickness, reduction of material and air interaction chances, the ability to lessen medication contamination or oxidative deterioration, and crisp, sponge-like results that are simple to crush. The technique may be used to extract both heat-sensitive and quickly oxidized materials at high temperatures. In order to prevent material from overflowing onto the disk and creating waste and pollution, extract dry decompression should be managed while the disk volume, vacuum, and heating steam pressure are present. A vacuum oven serves as the drying apparatus.

3.Freeze-drying

The dry liquid substance will be cooled below freezing, solidified, and then, in a vacuum, the ice will be converted to water vapor, which will subsequently be dried and is referred to as sublimation drying. For heat-sensitive materials like serum, medicines, and other biological products, the process is characterized by drying materials under high vacuum at low temperature. The drying substance is porous and disintegrates easily. For the long-term preservation of pharmaceuticals, low water content is advantageous. To create sterile powder for injection, utilize freeze-drying. However, a lot of money is spent on the equipment, and it costs a lot to produce. A freeze-drying machine is the drying apparatus.

Traditional Chinese medicine has more precise drying requirements, so the right drying equipment must be used.