How are herbal formulas made into granules?
Raw Chinese medicinal herbs are cooked in water in pressurized industrial cookers, under precise conditions to extract the active constituents. Once extracted, the liquid is sprayed onto a binding medium, either a potato starch or hypo-allergenic dextrin base, and dried, forming “granules.” Note: granules are not simply powdered raw herbs. Granules are made from herbs and formulas that have been pressure decocted in advance, to save patients the time and effort required to decoct their own raw formulas.
