Particle size distribution of some chopped medicinal plants

Abstract

Medicinal plants contain biologically active substances with therapeutic effect in different affections treatment. In order to cultivate medicinal plants, establishing organic or even ecological crops is very important, because medicinal plant species owe their phyto-therapeutic action to some bioactive components. Medicinal plant cultivation and capitalization by different processing operations are important for ensuring an enhanced quantity of raw material and preserving or increasing their valuable constituents. The primary processing implies all the technical operations of conditioning, harvesting, drying, grinding by chopping, transport, sorting, performed by specialized equipment through which the raw material is successively transformed, quantitative and qualitative, from the initial state to a state of finished product. Particle size distribution of some chopped medicinal plants (nettle, thyme, wormwood) was made using three commonly used methods of mathematical models by Rosin-Rammler, Gaudin-Schumann and by Gauss. On the basis of the network analysis, the distribution fraction was obtained. Experimental data were evaluated using the function models, which were compared and the best performing model function was identified, which leads to a more accurate separation of the different particle sizes in order to obtain a better industrial profit of the medicinal plants. The primary processing line and the bioactive substances extraction from medicinal and aromatic plants can be used to obtain tea (sachets or bags), volatile oils, juices, tinctures, syrups, tablets, food dyes, cosmetics, natural fertilizers, bio-insecticides, etc.