Several Factors Affecting the Sterilization Effect of Microwave on Traditional Chinese Medicine

Microwave equipment in the pharmaceutical industry is mainly used in the drying and sterilization of pills (water pills, honey pills, honey pills, etc.), tablets, powder, granules, extracts of traditional Chinese medicine, extracts and various oral liquids, Chinese and Western medicines, and rapid extraction equipment of traditional Chinese medicine. The effect of microwave sterilization on traditional Chinese medicine depends mainly on the following factors.

p>1 The higher the moisture content of the material, the better the microwave energy absorption and the better the sterilization effect. For example, the sterilization and drying effect of water pills and fresh herbal pieces is generally better than that of honey pills and powder, and the moisture content of the same material is basically proportional to the sterilization effect. Sometimes in order to achieve better results, it is necessary to add appropriate amount of moisture to the material.

2 Different types of materials have different microwave sterilization effects. Generally speaking, the sterilization rate of honey pills is higher than that of water pills, and the sterilization rate of preparations with large honey content is better than those with small honey content. The reason may be that honey absorbs more microwave energy than water, so under the same heating power and time, dense pellets absorb more heat than water pellets, heating up faster and sterilizing rate higher. However, because the water content of water pills is higher than that of honey pills, and the required water content of finished products is lower than that of honey pills, the drying time of water pills is long. When the drying requirement is met, the sterilization rate of water pills is higher than that of honey pills.

3. The sterilization effect of drugs is proportional to the microwave output power and irradiation time. The appropriate microwave power and irradiation time should be selected according to the dosage form, water content and composition of the drug. For a long time, traditional heating drying and sterilization methods have been used in pharmaceutical processing industry in China, such as hot air and far infrared drying, high temperature and high pressure, cobalt 60 and so on. They not only have low thermal efficiency, long heating time and large area, but also are not conducive to environmental protection. At the same time, sterilization should be kept for 20-40 minutes under high pressure and 120 C, and the pharmacodynamics and nutritional components of drugs will be destroyed to a certain extent. Microwave drying and sterilization can give full play to the characteristics of microwave drying and sterilization, which can solve the disadvantages of traditional heating. With the carefully designed microwave dryer, the processed pills are not cracked, have good consistency, maintain the original quality and prolong the shelf life.