How long can dried ginseng be kept?

Dried ginseng is ginseng that has been sun-dried. Although dried ginseng has a longer shelf life than fresh ginseng, it also has a certain shelf life and cannot expire. If it expires, it will not only affect the taste of the dried ginseng, but also its nutritional value, and even cause food poisoning in people. So, how long can dried ginseng be kept? This will be introduced below!

1. How long can ginseng be preserved?

How long ginseng can be preserved depends on the quality and variety of the ginseng. Ginseng is divided into dried ginseng and fresh ginseng. How long fresh ginseng can be preserved depends on the method. Fresh ginseng just harvested from the ginseng planting base must be washed and wrapped in unpolluted moss from the northern mountainous area, and placed in a fresh-keeping cabinet maintained at -5℃~5℃. At the same time, you should insist on spraying the moss with water mist using a spray bottle from time to time (the atomization effect must be good) to maintain the moisture of the moss. Put fresh ginseng preserved with moss in the refrigerator at 0-4 degrees and it can be stored for 3-6 months.

How long dried ginseng can be preserved depends on the variety of dried ginseng. If it is red ginseng, there is no problem in leaving it for two or three years. Red ginseng has a relatively long shelf life and can generally be stored for five or six years. But wild ginseng is different. Its shelf life is relatively short, generally two to three years. Wild ginseng is generally white or slightly yellowish. Expired ginseng may turn red or yellow due to oxidation of elements.

2. What are the methods for preserving ginseng?

Ginseng is a precious traditional Chinese medicine. There are roughly three methods for preserving ginseng: desiccant drying method, low-temperature storage method and conventional storage method.

The simplest way to preserve ginseng is to store it at low temperature. Put the dried ginseng in a plastic bag and put it in the refrigerator. If the ginseng is not completely dry, it should be placed in the freezer first, freeze-dried and then placed in the storage cabinet.

Another way to preserve ginseng is to use a desiccant to dry it. Place an appropriate amount of desiccant, such as quicklime, charcoal, silica gel, etc., at the bottom of a sealed jar, tube, or box to keep the storage environment dry. Then wrap the ginseng with paper, put it in the container, cover it tightly to prevent insect infestation and mildew.

3. How long can ginseng last?

According to historical records, the lifespan of ginseng is about 400 years, but during harvesting, it is very rare to find ginseng that is 200 years old, and it is not easy to grow for about a hundred years.

Most plants easily rot underground, but ginseng contains substances such as ginsenosides that can prevent it from rotting. Therefore, ginseng can live for a long time, hundreds or even thousands of years. But now, thousand-year-old ginseng is basically gone, and ginseng that is over a hundred years old is already very rare. The price of a hundred-year-old ginseng is even more expensive, ranging from hundreds of thousands to millions.