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ultrasonic herb dryer

 ultrasonic humidifiers say they use just 30 pt as much energy as warm humidifiers; that suggests using ultrasonics to dry herbal material as there is less thermal stress on the active ingredients
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It seemed to me like this should have been made, yet a momentary look online suggests that warm air is still used to dry herbs

you could use cool or even near freezing air to ultrasonically dry a wide variety of medicinal herbs to preserve any delicate plant pharmaceuticals; lots of chemistry is done at cool temps, preserving delicate herbal or even scent characteristics goes well with ultrasonic drying

ultrasonic humidifiers say they use just 30 pt as much energy as warm humidifiers; that suggests they really do enhance the drying process at lower temperatures

—beanangel, May 21 2010

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       I occasionally dry herbs by freezing. I don't really get why i would use ultrasonics.
—nineteenthly, May 21 2010
   

       less thermal stress on the active ingredient
—beanangel, May 21 2010
   

       This would be a godsend for drying beans. This can only be the work of none other than a...
—rcarty, May 21 2010
   

       hmmmm   

       OK, i do see your point. There are other ways of doing that, for instance hydrosols and glycetracts.
—nineteenthly, May 21 2010
   

       Is there a herbal equivalent of the "humidor"? Presumably, there's some benefit to maintaining some level of moisture in your herbs.
—zen_tom, May 21 2010
   

       Interesting question from the point of the psychology of herbalists. I know i split a lot - see everything in black and white. If that's true of herbalists generally, it would suggest that we don't like things which are just slightly off being completely dry, but prefer liquids or utterly dried herbs or other preparations. If there is a benefit to that, i suspect it would be unlikely to be discovered for that reason - simple prejudice. My hunch is that things would go mouldy, but that could be a good thing sometimes. For instance, Capsella bursa-pastoris would be more effective mouldy. Also, it makes me wonder whether fermentation would change the actions of herbs. TCM is into that, i think.
—nineteenthly, May 21 2010
   

       Ultrasonic humidifiers put water into the air by essentially vibrating the water into an aersol. I am less then convinced this would work to remove water from plant cells, a very different proposition.
—MechE, May 21 2010
   

       I'd be concerned as to whether the ultrasonics would damage the cells.
—RayfordSteele, May 21 2010
   

       They might, which could be a good or a bad thing depending on the circumstances. In the case of chamomile, it would be good provided the chamomile had previously been heated. The same applies to many plants in the Brassicaceae because of mustard oil. On the other hand, it means quicker oxidation and probably the loss of volatile constituents. Anemone pulsatilla and Viburnum opulus are only usable once dried though, so they'd come out better. It's also like the frozen veg problem: broken cell walls lead to greater availability of the contents but expose them to oxygen, desiccation et caetera.   

       So i'd say it'd improve some herbs and impair others, and also change the indications and actions of certain remedies.
—nineteenthly, May 21 2010
   

       It would be silent to humans but drive Fito into a frenzy.   

       El dueno.
—el dueno, May 23 2010
   

       //don't like things which are just slightly off being completely dry//   

       I'm quite surprised. Do ye make no plasters nor poultices?   

       [el dueno] - //Fito// sp. "Phyto"
—lurch, May 23 2010
   


 

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