There are five key points in picking medicinal herbs :

1. Places
2. Picking periods
3. Drying techniques
4. Useful life of medicines
5. Detoxification

Picking places

The areas where the medicinal plants grow aren’t always the appropriated picking places if the soil is too dried or wet, if it is a cemetery, a precipice or a cliff, a place lacking in shade or also a polluted place.

On the contrary, if the plants grow in a clean and nice area, with enough sun and wind, if the hydrometry is balanced and the soil fertile, the place is favourable for picking.

The medicinal herbs with cold potentiality must be searched out on the north side of mountains, in very cool shady places, as well as on peaks. They are very effective against illnesses considered to have warm causes.

The medicinal herbs with warm potentiality must be searched out on the south side of mountains, in very sunny places. They are said to be very effective against complaints considered to have cold causes.

In the same way, if the plants chosen for picking are bright-coloured, if they are tasty when raised to your lips, if their roots are long and go deep in the soil, if they haven’t been damaged by insects, fire, frost or hail, they will be very efficient to fight off illnesses.

Picking periods

The appropriated picking period is when medicinal plants have grown until they are potentially totally mature.

Stems are cut during wet periods. Roots are dig out at the end of autumn and the beginning of spring. Leaves are cut in summer whereas flowers are cut in full blossom. Fruits are harvested in autumn when they are mature. So are seeds, at the same period of year. Barks are removed at the beginning of spring, whereas resin or gum is extracted at the middle of this season.

Purgative plants (“that lead to the bottom”) with earth and water potentialities have the special feature of being picked in descendant period (autumn – winter), whereas emetic plants (“that lead to the top”) with fire and air potentiality are picked in ascendant period (spring – summer).

Drying techniques

After picking, medicinal herbs are dried following very specific methods. Pebbles, earth and other kind of dirt covering them are generally removed and plants are directly washed on the spot with water.

Once cut, they are squeezed and shaken with clean hands to extract juice from them, before being quickly dried. The medicines prepared in this way don’t lose quality flavour and taste, and keep all their efficiency against illnesses.

It they aren’t shaken and if they dry by themselves, medicinal herbs will be as tasteless and inefficient as mere yellowed plants. In normal times, Medicinal herbs with cold potentiality, oleaginous plants and those that nature easily changes, must be dried in a cold and dried place whereas medicines with warm potentiality will be dried in the sun.

On no account the operation can be soiled, either by saliva or dirty hands… it has to be done in totally hygienic.

Useful life of medicines

When we speak about “medicines freshness”, this means that they mustn’t be old. For example, every plant picked becomes too old after a year and loses efficiency.

It is thus necessary to get rid of it to prepare new medicines. As for seeds and fruits, it is also necessary to know their aspect well.

Detoxification

When picking medicinal herbs, toxic matter must be extracted at the appropriated moment, by taking a great number of precautions.

It can be necessary to remove the epidermis from roots, stems or other parts in other plants, their pith (parenchyma), or also knots of branches… knowing vegetal morphology well is still necessary.

As regards leaves and flowers, the phyllomes must be removed, and for fruits, the endocarp and the stone, even if the latter has to be kept in some cases. The epidermis – damaged, soiled or blackened under the influence of sun and rain – must be removed too. Besides, a keen knowledge of what constitutes latex, parenchyma or stones is also required.

As immediate detoxification is essential, those planning to learn these processes will consult the fundamental books of Tibetan medicine about medicinal preparation.

Countless kinds of medicinal plants grow on the Tibetan plateau. Picking them by the rule book is very important to ensure an optimal quality for medicines.

With all the necessary knowledge about taste, cold, heat, roots, leaves, stems, flowers, fruits, etc. picking can’t be superficially studied.

Besides, practice and experience remain essential to adapt academic knowledge to local circumstances, because the picking period can be brought forward or delayed depending on the area altitude, the rainfall level or the microclimate.