This document discusses the post-harvest management of medicinal and aromatic plants. It describes that post-harvest management includes cleaning, sorting, packaging, storage, transportation and distribution of harvested crops. It provides technical details of harvesting, drying, packing, storage, transportation and the equipment used. It emphasizes the importance of hygiene, cleaning, sorting and grading of harvested materials and stresses the need for training of personnel involved in post-harvest activities.

1. Presented By
Subham Dwivedi
POST-HARVEST MANAGEMENT OF MEDICINAL AND
AROMATIC PLANTS

2. • 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 product
2. Sorting
3. Packaging
4. Storage
5. Transportation & distribution
WHAT IS POST HARVEST MANAGEMENT?

3. TECHNICAL ASPECTS
OF PHM

4. • 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

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. 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.

13. Post Harvest Management
IN
Medicinal Plants

14. Economic parts- Leaves and pods
Major constituents- Sennoside A, B, C, D
Uses-Laxative
SENNA
Cassia angustifolia Vahl.
STAGES OF GROWTH
Vegetative stage Flowering stage Pod setting stage

15. Harvested and cleaned pods
Harvested leaves and pods are spreaded
in a ventilated room until it reaches 10 %
moisture.Sundrying is avoided to prevent
the loss of Sennosides.
Processing
The equipment's should be clean and sanitized..

16. Pack in Gunny Bags
Avoid too much Compaction
Packing of Senna pods

17. 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

18. Economic parts- Root
Major constituents- Total alkaloid (0.13-0.31%) - Withanine, Somniferine
Uses-cures bronchitis, rheumatism, inflammation
ASWAGANDHA
Withania 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.

19. 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.

20. STEVIA REBAUDIANA
Economic parts- Leaves
Major constituents- Stevioside (3-10 %), Rebaudiside-A (13 %), Rebaudiside-B and C
Uses-Calorie free sweetner, sugar substitute for diabetic patients
Harvesting
It 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 Threshing
Depending 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.

21. Post Harvest Management
IN
AROMATIC Plants

22. Vetiveria zizanoides
Economic parts- Roots
Major constituents- Vetiverone, Vetiverols, Vetivernate
Uses-Perfumery, cosmetics

23. Harvesting and PHM
The 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

24. 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.

25. 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.