How long does it take to soak Chinese medicine before decocting it

The Chinese medicine we buy from pharmacies outside generally needs to be soaked, because this makes it more convenient to decoct the medicine later and also enhances its efficacy. However, many people do not know the specific cooking methods of Chinese medicine, so the Chinese medicine they soak is not very effective. There is a certain time limit for soaking Chinese medicine, but many people don’t know it. So how long does it take to soak the Chinese medicine before decocting it?

Soaking Chinese medicine in cold water for a period of time before decocting it is an important part of the Chinese medicine decoction method. However, in daily life, many patients mistakenly believe that the soaking is not good, and they decoct the Chinese medicine immediately, or even directly add hot water to decoct it to save time. This is not conducive to the extraction of effective ingredients and will affect the efficacy.

The vast majority of Chinese herbal medicines are dry products with a fine and hard texture. The active ingredients have crystallized or precipitated in the cells, making it difficult for water to penetrate. If they are soaked in cold water for a period of time before decoction, the herbs will become soft, the cells will swell, and the active ingredients will be easily decocted out. Some medicinal materials contain more starch and protein. If they are decocted over fire without being soaked, the starch on the surface of the medicinal materials will gelatinize and the protein will coagulate, blocking the capillary pores on the surface of the medicinal materials. Water will not be able to enter, and the effective ingredients will not be easily decocted out, affecting the efficacy of the medicine.

The soaking time depends on the medicine. For medicines with loose texture such as flowers, leaves, and thin stems, soaking time is only half an hour; for medicines with hard texture such as tubers, rhizomes, seeds, and fruits, soaking time should be 1 hour; and for mineral, animal, and shell medicines, the soaking time needs to be longer. But be careful not to soak for too long, especially in summer, to avoid the medicine deterioration.

Do not soak the herbs for more than half an hour. Soaking the medicinal materials before decocting helps dissolve their active ingredients and improve their efficacy. "But please note that different types of medicinal materials have different soaking times." Zhong Yanzhu, deputy chief pharmacist of the Pharmacy Department of Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, pointed out that floral and herbal medicinal materials such as safflower and houttuynia cordata only need to be soaked for 15-20 minutes.

Root and tuber medicinal materials such as Fritillaria thunbergii and Chinese yam need a little longer because they are rich in starch. However, one prescription usually contains multiple Chinese medicines, so the principle of "compromise" should be adopted. That is, first make a rough classification, taking into account the characteristics of most medicinal materials. In addition, the soaking time for medicinal materials varies in different seasons. For example, in spring and autumn, it is generally soaked for 30-60 minutes, and in winter it does not exceed 60 minutes. In the hot summer, medicinal materials will easily deteriorate if soaked for too long, so it is generally controlled within 30 minutes.