Professional Documents
Culture Documents
prevent the degradation of air flow and the plant mate- ers, however, do not have
chemical constituents during rial dries evenly. The access to forced air tobacco
the drying process. There- shelves should be con- dryers based on the agricul-
fore, dependable temperature structed of food grade tural history of the area. In
control and the ability to screens or covered with an this case, a dryer can be
NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY
provide high air flow acceptable food grade mate- constructed from a new or
throughout the plant mate- rial. The dryer should be existing shed outfitted with a
rial is important. Drying free of dust, dirt, insects, and heater, fan, and dehumidi-
temperatures and times differ rodents. Evidence of any of fier. Additionally, a grower
by plants, plant parts, and these in the final product can may choose to construct one
ambient conditions. In gen- lower its value or render it from scratch.
eral, most herbs should be unmarketable.
dried at low temperatures, The dryer should be able to
ideally around 90-100 F. hold an entire harvest and
A Construction Guide
Figure 4: Schematic of small dryer front and schematic of a small dryer removable
rack.
PLANVIEWSHOWINGFRAMEAND
BRIDGESUPPORT,WITH1/4PLY
WOODSHEATHING.
1SCALE
Figure 5: Schematic depicting the top view of Figure 6: Completed small dryer with herb material (Photo courtesy of Anita Hayden)
the shelf for the small dryer
Page 4 DRYERS FOR COMMERCIAL HERB GROWERS:
Materials (cont.):
Large ExteriorDryer Guidelines (10 x 16 walk-in building)
Shelving Materials:
cont.
Lumber: (Measurements
may vary depending on the rial to be dried onto the back of the building. At the
size of the dryer building). shelves with the hardware points where the ducts are
cloth. attached to the building, vents
Enough 2X4s to frame and
Duct Work and Electrical Com- should be cut to the appropri-
construct shelves. ate size and the seams sealed
ponents Sheet metal ducts are
Hardware cloth: Galva- necessary for housing and pro- (Figure 11). It is important to
tecting the main electrical keep the fan/motor and heat-
nized Hardware Cloth. 6 rolls
components (fan/motor and ing coils protected from mois-
of 25 foot length, 36 inch heating coils) on the back side ture.
height, inch mesh, 20 of the building and for direct- Install the fan and motor sev-
gauge. Each roll costs ap- ing air flow from the top of eral feet above the heating
the building, over the heating elements inside the duct work.
proximately $25.
coils, and into the bottom of The fan will then draw air
the building (Figure 9). A through the return (upper)
local sheet metal company vent in the building, forcing it
should be able to custom- down over the heating ele-
fabricate the duct work. The ments, and back into the
duct work attaches to two building through the lower
points on the outside of the vent. The heated air will be
Figure 11: Upper and lower vents. These
are the two points where the ductwork
connects to the rear of the building. Air
circulates into the shed via the lower vent,
and back through the heating ducts via
the upper vent.
Figure 13: Fuse box with different switches for fan, heat, light, and main.
Drying Methods
Drying Methods Once you have estab- tain chlorophyll. This will be less impor- out more slowly. Depending on the
lished your herb dryer, some general tant for roots or other low-chlorophyll plant, some roots may need to be cut
instructions for drying are in order. parts. Start with higher temperatures in half or quartered in order to thor-
The best method to dry your herb will and decrease them over time. It is a good oughly.
depend largely on the physical charac- idea to maintain high temperatures for What temperature should I use? Differ-
teristics of the material, the volume of at least the first 24 hours. ent herbs will require different tem-
herb in the dryer, the relative humidity When are my plants dry? Aerial parts will peratures. In the mountains, expect
of the outside air, and the physical be dry when you can break a piece of it herbs to dry at somewhere around 90-
properties that are important to your and it snaps. When drying roots, keep 105o F. In the Piedmont and Coastal
commercial buyer(s). Methods vary in mind that you want the roots to dry areas of North Carolina, temperatures
only slightly when using the small ver- from the inside out. If temperatures are may need to be around 110-130o F.
sus the large herb dryer. too high, the roots will dry on the out- Typically, the higher the ambient hu-
Keeping the Green. Most commercial side first and seal in moisture on the in- midity, the higher the temperature
buyers want green color to be main- side. This would result in a moldy, infe- that is required to dry the material
tained in the dried product that they rior product that would be rejected by a thoroughly. One report recommends
buy. This is especially important for buyer. Instead, keep temperatures low the following temperatures based on
above ground plant parts which con- enough to dry the root from the inside the major medicinal chemical composi-
North Carolina State
University
Authors:
Jeanine Davis No matter what your scale of medicinal herb production, quality of
Amy Hamilton
Mtn. Hort. Crops Research & Extension Ctr
your final product will depend, in part, on your ability to efficiently
455 Research Drive,
Mills River, NC 28759
and adequately dry your harvested material. We hope that these two
dryer designs will serve as a starting point for you as you develop a
dryer to suit the particular needs of your farm. Please contact us if
Contact:
Phone: 828-684-3562 you come up with innovative modifications to these designs to
Fax: 828-684-8715
E-mail: jeanine_davis@ncsu.edu
improve quality in your final product or overall efficiency of
the dryer itself. Additionally, please contact us with ques-
Thank you to Dr. Grant Ellington,
tions or seeking advice as you build your own dryer.
Extension Specialist in Biological and
Agricultural Engineering, for assisting
Other Resources:
with the technical components of this www.ncspecialtycrops.org/medherbs - for general herbal information
publications.
www.agf.gov.bc.ca - for general drying information
Thank you to Laura Duffie and Libby www.library.wur.nl/frontis/medicinal_aromatic_plants/17_muller.pdf
Hinsley for their assistance with this
publication. For a detailed report on drying specific medicinal herbs