How to store burdock: drying and freezing leaves and roots, storing burdock juice and oil

Freshly harvested burdock is usually not stored, but immediately begins to process it: the juice is pressed, burdock oil is made, the leaves and roots of the medicinal plant are frozen. Some even cook vitamin soup and prepare vitamin salad with the original ingredient. Each of the blanks should be stored according to special rules.

What is the best way to store burdock?

Dried

First, you need to make sure that you get high-quality drying of the leaves or roots of the plant. This will be the first right step towards long-term storage of burdock in this form. Properly dried medicinal material will last much longer. See more details: collecting and drying burdock roots.

Burdock leaves should be dried in a ventilated area. It is important that direct rays of the sun do not fall on the raw materials. You can dry them either whole or in crushed form.

Then you need to choose a suitable container for dry storage of burdock:

• glass and ceramic jars;
• boxes made of wood, with tight-fitting lids;
• bags made of canvas material;
• paper bags.

Plastic bags and plastic containers are suitable for storing roots only when frozen. It is not recommended to store dry goods in them. Dried burdock leaves must be ground into powder before being sent for storage, and only then sent to the “correct container”. Flowers and roots are usually stored whole.

See the video “How to dry burdock root in an apartment. Infusion without alcohol and how to make a healing tincture from it":

The container with dry healing material should be taken to a place where it is always dark, dry and well ventilated. Twice a month it is necessary to inspect it to make sure that the raw materials are not moldy and there are no fruit moths in it. If this is detected, the damaged workpiece must be disposed of. And slightly damp raw materials can be dried in the oven at low temperature.

If you follow all the above tips, then dried burdock will retain its healing properties and will be suitable for use for at least 2-3 years.

Frozen

This method allows you to preserve a fairly large number of medicinal properties in burdock leaves. After defrosting, they are completely suitable for use in traditional medicine recipes. Before putting it in the freezer, burdock leaves need to be washed, dried and made into “envelopes”, and then sent in a regular cellophane bag to the freezer. It is not worth crushing the leaves for freezing; in this state, they will release a lot of juice, which, as a result, will turn into pieces of ice.

How to store burdock leaf juice and oil

Storing burdock juice

Fresh juice is suitable for consumption if stored in the refrigerator for no more than three days. Naturally, in this form, burdock has the most healing qualities, but adding honey (liquid) or alcohol (can be replaced with vodka) as preservatives will extend the shelf life to several months.

See the video “Burdock juice - benefits and harm. How to take, how to prepare and how to store. May ginseng":

The finished tincture of burdock juice with alcohol (1:1 ratio) can be kept in a dark, cool place in a usable condition for a whole year. If you mix the crushed leaves of the plant with the same preservative and in the same proportion, and then put them in a tightly closed container in the refrigerator, they will not spoil for eight months.

By adding honey (1:1) to the juice, it will be possible to store it in a jar with an airtight seal in the refrigerator for up to 1 year.

Burdock oil storage

The shelf life of the pure product is up to 18 months. This is provided that it is stored in a dark, cool place. But in modern production, burdock oil without additives (red pepper, nettle, etc.) is becoming increasingly rare. Their presence reduces the shelf life to 1 year (it must be stored under the same conditions as without additives).

Knowing all the intricacies of saving burdock at home will help everyone independently stock up on this medicinal plant for a long time.