Presented BySubham Dwivedi

POST-HARVEST MANAGEMENT OF MEDICINAL AND AROMATIC

PLANTS

• Postharvest Management is the stage of crop production immediately following harvest.

• The instant a crop is removed from the ground, or separated from its

parent plant, it begins to deteriorate. Postharvest treatment largely determines final quality, whether a crop is sold for fresh consumption, or used as an ingredient in a processed food product.

• Post-harvest management practices that reduce product loss to spoilage or shrinkage will reduce microbial risks. These include: 1. Cleaning the product2. Sorting 3. Packaging 4. Storage 5. Transportation & distribution

WHAT IS POST HARVEST MANAGEMENT?

TECHNICAL ASPECTS OF PHM

• Crop harvesting should not be carried out in wet conditions.

• Harvesting equipment should be clean and well maintained.

• Containers for collection must be free of previously accumulated crop.

• Damaged and spoiled crop material should be sorted and discarded.

• Harvested material should be collected in dry sacks, baskets, trailers or hoppers and not on the ground.

• Mechanical damage, high compaction and storage which promotes composting should be avoided.

• The harvested crop should be protected from pests & domestic animals.

HARVESTING

DRYING• The crop should be unpacked as soon as possible on arrival at the drying facilities.

• Buildings used for drying crops should be well ventilated and never used for livestock.

• The building should be constructed so as to protect the crop from birds, insects, farm and domestic animals.

• Drying racks should be kept clean and regularly maintained.

• Crops should be placed on wire mesh racks standing off the floor to allow free air circulation.

• Drying on the floor and in direct sunlight is not recommended.

• Dried crops should be inspected and sieved or winnowed to remove damaged material and other foreign matter. Sieves should be kept clean and maintained regularly.

• Clearly marked waste bins should be provided, emptied daily and cleaned.

PACKING

• After removal of damaged material and foreign matter, the sound dried crop should be packed in clean, dry sacks, bags or boxes, preferably new.

• Packing materials should be stored in a clean dry place free from pests and inaccessible to animals.

• Reusable packaging materials such as jute sacks, plastic bags, etc., should be well cleaned and dried before re-use.

• The packed crop should be stored in a dry place away from the wall and off the ground and be protected from pests and farm and domestic animals.

• Whenever possible, the packaging materials used should be agreed between the supplier and the buyer.

STORAGE & TRANSPORT• Packed dried crop should be store in a dry, well ventilated building, with minimal variation in diurnal temperature and with good air ventilation.

• Shutter and door openings should be protected by wire screens to keep out pests and farm and domestic animals.

• It is recommended that packed dried crops should be stored:- in a building with concrete floors;

- away from the wall;- well separated from all other crops.

• For bulk deliveries, the use of vented containers for transport and storage in temporary warehousing is highly recommended to minimize contamination risks. Alternatively, suitable vented transport vehicles and temporary storage facilities are recommended.

EQUIPMENTS

• Equipment used for the production and handling of crops should be easily cleaned to minimize contamination. Dry cleaning is recommended. Where the use of water is unavoidable, equipment should be dried as quickly as possible.

• All equipment should be installed to allow easy access and should be well maintained and cleaned regularly.

• The use of wood should be avoided wherever possible.

• Wooden equipment (e.g., pallets, hoppers etc.), if used, should not have chemical treatments, such as chemical fungicides, which could be the source of taint, e.g., chlorophenols.

PERSONNEL

• Personnel handling medicinal plant material should:

-maintain a high degree of personal hygiene;-be provided with suitable changing facilities and toilets with hand washing facilities.

• Personnel should not be permitted to work in the herbal material handling area if they are known to be suffering from, or to be carriers of, a disease likely to be transmitted through medicinal plant materials, including diarrhoea.

• Personnel with open wounds, sores, and skin infections should be transferred away from herbal materials handling areas until completely recovered.

DOCUMENTATION

• Keeping records of fertilizer, pesticide and herbicide used on each batch of harvested material is highly desirable.

• The use of methylbromide or phosphine for fumigation of herbal materials should be:

- notified to the buyer;- recorded in shipment papers.

TRAINING & EDUCATION

Training and education of personnel, whether handling crops or managing crop production, in appropriate production techniques is highly recommended. This can be achieved by using experts from local agricultural institutes or those provided by the buyers.

QUALITY CONTROL

• Compliance with the recommendations of the GACP should be checked through regular inspection visits by the producer's and the buyer's representatives with expertise in good agricultural and hygiene practice.

• Specifications for herbal materials should be agreed between the producer and the buyer; these may include, for example, active principles and characteristic constituents, microbial load, visual and sensory properties, pesticide residues and heavy metals.

Post Harvest ManagementIN

Medicinal Plants

Economic parts- Leaves and podsMajor constituents- Sennoside A, B, C, DUses-Laxative

SENNACassia angustifolia Vahl.

STAGES OF GROWTH

Vegetative stage Flowering stage Pod setting stage

Harvested and cleaned pods

Harvested leaves and pods are spreadedin a ventilated room until it reaches 10 % moisture.Sundrying is avoided to prevent the loss of Sennosides.

ProcessingThe equipment's should be clean and sanitized..

Pack in Gunny BagsAvoid too much Compaction

Packing of Senna pods

Grading of Senna Pods

In the market, three or four grades of senna are recognised based upon size and colour

Grade A / first grade: The extra large and bold leaves and pods having yellowish green colour

Grade B /second grade: Produce having brownish leaves and pods

Grade C /lower grade: Smaller and broken leaves and pods

Economic parts- RootMajor constituents- Total alkaloid (0.13-0.31%) - Withanine, SomniferineUses-cures bronchitis, rheumatism, inflammation

ASWAGANDHAWithania somnifera 

PHM Practices

Freshly harvested roots Washing the roots Dried roots Dried seeds

• The roots are transversely cut into smaller pieces of 7-10 cm to facilitate drying.

• The berries are harvested separately, dried and threshed to remove the seeds.

 Grading of roots The dried roots are beaten with a club to remove adhering soil and to break off thin, brittle, lateral rootlets. Lateral branches, root crown and stem remains are carefully trimmed with a knife. Root pieces are then sorted out into following grades.

1) A grade Root pieces up to 7 cm in length, 1-1.5 cm in diameter, solid cylindrical with smooth external surface and pure white from inside.

2) B grade Root pieces up to 5 cm in length, 1 cm or less in diameter, solid, brittle and white from inside.

3) C grade Solid root pieces up to 3-4 cm in length, 1 cm or less in diameter.

4) D grade Small root pieces, semisolid or hollow, very thin, yellowish inside and < 1 cm in diameter. 

STEVIA REBAUDIANAEconomic parts- LeavesMajor constituents- Stevioside (3-10 %), Rebaudiside-A (13 %), Rebaudiside-B and CUses-Calorie free sweetner, sugar substitute for diabetic patients

HarvestingIt can be harvested when plants are 40-60 centimeters in height. Shorter days induce flowering. Optimum yield (biomass) and stevioside quality and quantity is best just prior to flowering.

Drying and ThreshingDepending on weather conditions and density of loading, it generally takes 24 to 48 hours to dry Stevia at 40°C to 50°C. Immediately following drying, a specially designed thresher/separator is necessary to separate dry stevia leaves from its stem.

Post Harvest ManagementIN

AROMATIC Plants

Vetiveria zizanoides 

Economic parts- RootsMajor constituents-  Vetiverone, Vetiverols, Vetivernate Uses-Perfumery, cosmetics

Harvesting and PHMThe plants planted in July should be harvested after 18 months to get the maximum oil yield. Harvesting is usually done during dry season (December to February) by manually digging out the bush along with its roots. The roots are then separated from the leaves, washed and dried under the shade for 1-2 days before distillation.

The roots that possess the following characteristics have good oil content. It should 1. Be slightly reddish brown 2. expose a hard surface when the skin is peeled off 3. be thick, hard, long and wiry and 4. give a very bitter taste when chewed.

Roots of the vetiver plant after only 6 months cultivation

 

Roots of the two years old vetiver plant

Citronella Cymbopogon winterianus

Harvest

The first harvest is done at 6 months after planting.  Second and subsequent harvest can be taken at an interval of two and a half months. Cut the bush by leaving 10-15 cm above the ground level. Oil extraction is done after shade drying the leaves for one day.

Post Harvest Management

• The harvested grass sometimes contains dead leaves. These should be removed. The remaining leaves are cut into shorter lengths. This reduces the volume of the grass and facilities firm and even packing within the still.

• Further, chopping the grass gives a higher yield of oil compared to uncut grass.

• The grass is steam-distilled for better recovery of oil and economical

purposes.

• At Distillation, Larger percentages of the major components in the total oil, such as citronellal, geraniol, citronellal and geranyl acetate are recovered on the first hour of distillation.

THANKYOU !