Echinacea purpurea: how to collect and dry medicinal raw materials - drying echinacea at home

Where does Echinacea grow?

This perennial plant belongs to the Asteraceae (Asteraceae) family and is found mainly in dry open places in forests and steppes. Because of its luxurious appearance, Echinacea is often grown as an ornamental plant in gardens and vegetable gardens.

Watch a video from the video magazine “Gardens of Russia” about the beneficial properties of Echinacea purpurea

How to Harvest and Dry Echinacea

Parts of the plant such as leaves, flowers and rhizomes are used to treat various ailments. The collection of raw materials should be carried out in dry, sunny weather, immediately after the morning dew has disappeared. However, when collecting roots, weather conditions do not play any role.

Echinacea is a perennial plant, so its upper part can be used for collecting raw materials for several years. If you harvest the roots, the plant must be replanted annually. At home, it is best to use only the above-ground part.

Leaves

Foliage from young plants, the first year of life, is collected in the fall. In subsequent years, the leaves are cut off in the spring, as soon as the plant begins to grow. You should not completely cut off the bushes, otherwise there will be nothing to bloom in the future.

Dry the greens in a dark, dry and ventilated area. The sun's rays have a detrimental effect on the beneficial properties of the plant, so the raw materials must be carefully protected from light. The leaves are laid out on sieves or trays and dried for 5 - 7 days, turning several times a day. If you pre-shred the foliage, drying will go much faster.

Inflorescences

Echinacea flowers are collected at the very beginning of their flowering. The best time to collect is when the buds are not yet fully open. During this period, the baskets contain the maximum concentration of useful substances, while long-blooming buds are of little use for medicinal collection. After the first cut, the plant again throws out an arrow with a flower, and after 3 - 4 weeks the collection of raw materials can be repeated.

You can dry Echinacea flowers either naturally or using dryers. To dry in air, the buds are laid out on wire racks in one layer and placed in a dark, dry place. To make the process more even, the flowers are periodically turned over. Drying time takes from 14 to 20 days.

To reduce time, you can use a vegetable and fruit dryer. The inflorescences dry on the grates of the unit in 10 hours, at a temperature of 50 - 60 degrees.

Erase the video from the “Useful Tips” channel - How to brew echinacea flowers

Rhizomes

The roots are collected either in late autumn after the plant blooms, or in early spring. The rhizome is dug up with a shovel and removed from the ground. Next, it is cleared of soil, cut into small pieces, and thoroughly washed again.

You need to dry the roots in the oven or in an electric dryer. This is due to the fact that drying at temperatures below 40 - 60 degrees leads to rotting of the raw materials.

When drying roots in the oven, the door must be ajar to ensure a sufficient level of ventilation.

How to store dry raw materials

Leaves and flowers can be stored separately, or mixed together into one medicinal mixture. Store the herb in glass jars under a tight lid away from sunlight. The roots are stored in cardboard boxes, tins or dark glass jars.

The shelf life of medicinal raw materials from Echinacea is 2 years.