How is wolfberry dried?

Author: TwesixTwesix

1. Natural drying method 1. Mix the newly picked wolfberry with edible alkaline water, and evenly spread it in the wolfberry tray ("Wolfberry tray": a special tool for drying or roasting wolfberry. Generally, it is grown with wooden sticks. For a wooden frame of 90 cm and a width of 60 cm, a window screen is nailed under the wooden frame, and a horizontal wood is nailed under the screen. The wolfberry fruit is spread on the screen.

Note: Some use cardboard or bamboo mats, but they are not as good as window screens for ventilation and ventilation). Dry in a shaded and ventilated place (one day is appropriate), wait for the wolfberry to lose some moisture, and then move it to the sun for exposure. 2. A ventilated and flat place should be chosen for exposure to the sun (most people in Julu County, Hebei Province choose to be on the roof of their homes).

The wolfberry trays should be laid out individually. On cloudy days and rainy days, stack the wolfberry trays and cover them with plastic film in time to prevent the wolfberry from returning to moisture. After the weather is clear and the next morning, the plastic film should be removed in time to prevent If the temperature is too high, the wolfberry will turn black. When the wolfberry fruit is 70% to 80% dry, it should be put on the plate in time. 3. Deducting the plate is to deduct the wolfberry from the plate (if the moisture is not allowed to return, the wolfberry will stick to the window screen in large quantities, and it is not easy to remove).

Buckle the wolfberry to a hard surface that is sunny, ventilated, and easy to clean (a bungalow roof is best). Dishes should be selected in the early morning. The night before the plate is dipped, do not cover the wolfberry plate with plastic film, and let the wolfberry fruit return to the dampness in the plate for one night, so that the wolfberry fruit is easy to be spread evenly by the wolfberry fruit after the plate is buckled.

4. After the wolfberry is dried, it should be put into the bag in time, and the double-layer bag should be used. The bagging time should be selected at four or five o'clock in the afternoon. At this time, the sun is sufficient and the moisture is relatively low, and the wolfberry is not easy to return to the moisture. The mouth of the bag should be tied to death immediately after packing. In spring and summer, when the sun is abundant and the air humidity is low, this method is easy to use.

Lycium barbarum is a berry, which is not easy to preserve after picking. The natural drying method is often affected by the weather and the surrounding environment. Not only does the drying time take a long time and the degree of drying is uneven, but also under bad weather conditions, some of the harvested wolfberry will be damaged. The seeds rot due to untimely drying, which affects the quality and yield of the product. 2. Stove drying Stove drying is also a traditional drying method, which is to build a stove on the ground, make a fire at the bottom of the stove, and spread the fresh fruit in the stove for drying. First drying at 40℃-45℃ for 24-36h, some wrinkles appear; then drying at 45℃~50℃ for 36-48h, all show shrinkage wrinkles, and the volume is significantly reduced; finally at 50℃-55℃ It can be dried after drying for about 24 hours at the temperature.

This method has low cost and large amount of drying at one time, but the temperature is not easy to control, the drying is uneven, the drying time is long, the energy consumption is high, and the product quality is poor. 3. Hot-air drying Hot-air drying is a method of drying wolfberry using a hot-air drying machine. The air is heated with a hot blast stove, and is sent to the oven with a fan to contact with the fresh fruit to achieve heating and drying.

4. Far-infrared drying Far-infrared drying is a new method under research and development. This method has low cost, large processing capacity and easy-to-operate technology, which can be used for drying wolfberry. Its drying equipment can be automated, but the loss of active ingredients is large. The far-infrared dryer is a far-infrared radiating element that emits far-infrared rays, which are absorbed by the fruit and directly converted into heat energy to achieve drying.

5. Vacuum freeze-drying The vacuum freeze-drying method has been popularized and applied in the drying of wolfberry in Ningxia, Tianjin and other places. The method has the advantages of simple equipment, uniform drying radiation, fast drying speed, high productivity, high product quality, high medicinal value and continuous operation. The vacuum freeze dryer uses quick freezing to make the water content of the fruit solidify immediately, and then through a certain degree of vacuum, the "ice crystals" are quickly sublimated into steam to remove, and finally sealed and stored.

Drying by this method can obtain high-quality wolfberry fruit, which has bright red color, less nutrient loss, high drying quality, easy preservation and high cost. 6. Microwave drying Microwave drying is a new drying technology that has developed rapidly in recent years. During the drying process, microwave penetrates into the material, interacts with the polar molecules of the material and converts it into heat energy, so that the various parts of the dried material are The heat is obtained at the same instant and the temperature rises. Therefore, it has the advantages of fast heating speed, high energy utilization rate, high drying efficiency, and large processing capacity.