Best practice to preserve plants?

[Alana PotterStudent]

Have been drying herbs for many years but recently got a freeze dryer.  May I assume that the optimal method for preserving most plant material is to harvest at peak, freeze dry, and then powder?   I was skeptical about freeze drying being rather a harsh treatment for the plants with the extreme cold temps but am hearing that it preserves the most constituents for the longest time.  True?

Similarly, I had been somewhat hesitant to powder herbs in the Vitamix as it seems so violent ????  Yet apparently that method is what the Doc commonly uses.

thanks for any feedback

 

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Laura Casiano

[Charlotte ChumleaStudent]

I too have a freeze drier and use it for herbs. The culinary herbs I have dried, I left whole, and then I add them to soups and stews. The fresh taste is remarkable. I suspect that the same would be true of medicinal herbs. Do be careful to go into your settings menu and reduce the heat temperature to 100 degrees F. The dry time may increase but not by much depending upon the herb. I also use the ViaMix to create powders.

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Alana Potter

[Dr. Patrick JonesHomestead Instructor]

Cold doesn’t hurt herbs at all. But heat can.
Freeze drying probably extends shelf life some but I doubt that it’s much. Preserving food as food isn’t nearly as hard as preserving medicine as medicine.

The best bet for long term herb storage in tincturing.

Don't use herbs or combine herbs with medications or use them during lactation or pregnancy without talking with your healthcare provider.

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Elizabeth Prackert, Nancy Goodell, Haydn Ward, Mary Crowder, Georgia Washburn, Paige

[Alana PotterStudentTopic Author]

Thanks so much for weighing in, Doc.   Social media pundits claim the color and aroma is perfectly preserved when freeze drying and so they assume medicinal constituents would be also (?). Something about it just didn’t feel right to me.  Thanks for the advice.    I think I hedge bets by doing both—tincturing when appropriate and freeze drying plants that I would have stored dried anyway.

[Dr. Patrick JonesHomestead Instructor]

Make sure your freeze dryer doesn’t go above 110 degrees. They usually have settings for that. SOme herbs won’t care. But some will be ruined by the heat.

Don't use herbs or combine herbs with medications or use them during lactation or pregnancy without talking with your healthcare provider.

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Rachel Ewing, Haydn Ward

[Charlotte ChumleaStudent]

You can download the freezer dryer log files and open them in Excel.

There you can view the temperature achieved during different batch runs. I noticed that if I set my high temp limit to 100 F, the machine often reached 105. So I am cautious to set the high temperature to 100. The extra dry cycle may be longer, but not too long to be a deterrent.

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Rachel Ewing, Haydn Ward

[Rachel EwingStudent]

Great info.  Loving the course. Can you give an indication of what herbs tend to be more damaged by heat as I have about 20 herbs I have freeze dried without turning the temp down.  They all smell amazing. They actually smell more vibriant then than those that were air dried or dehydrated at 115.

In the future I will turn down the tempurature down to 100 or air dry.

Thank you you in advance and thank you so much for creating the course.

[Dr. Patrick JonesHomestead Instructor]

I worry most about herbs high in essential oils (like the mint family). Some constituents of plantain are pretty heat sensitive too.

Don't use herbs or combine herbs with medications or use them during lactation or pregnancy without talking with your healthcare provider.

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