High Temperature Drying of North American Ginseng for Management Decision Making

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The multi-year production cycle for ginseng can be rapidly depreciated by inferior post-harvest activities. This research examines the character of high temperature drying regimes for North American ginseng root to assist management decision making. The objective is a very rapid drying regime, that will not result in physical or chemical damage to the root and that would not alter the actual dry root weight. Research is presented using drying temperatures of 55, 70 and 105 C. Temperatures above these rapidly cause substantive physical damage to the root samples and seriously compromise the dry root values determined. Temperatures below these behaved quite similar to actual dryer regimes (approximately 38 C). Laboratory results indicate that there are differences between the three temperature regimes tested. Careful usage of the 70 C regime, over a period of two to three days in a convection drying oven, has distinct merit.