How long can cooked traditional Chinese medicine be stored?
Prepared traditional Chinese medicine can only be kept at room temperature for two days. If placed in the refrigerator, it can be kept for seven days, but preferably not exceeding seven days. Usually, the prepared traditional Chinese medicine in hospitals is packaged in vacuum packaging and placed in the refrigerator after cooling, with an expiration date on the packaging bag. If it is self-prepared traditional Chinese medicine, it should not be kept at room temperature for a long time, otherwise it is prone to deterioration overnight, and it is also best not to exceed three days when stored in the refrigerator.
1. We need to understand the packaging form of prepared traditional Chinese medicine decoctions. Currently, the most common packaging for prepared traditional Chinese medicine decoctions is vacuum-sealed packaging, and secondly, it can also be stored in containers provided by the patient.
2. The higher the temperature, the faster the medicinal liquid deteriorates. During seasons with higher temperatures, when the room temperature is above 25°C, the general decoction can be kept for no more than 2 days. If refrigerated, it can generally be kept for 7 days without deterioration.
3. Even under the same conditions, different prescriptions have significant differences in the degree of deterioration. If the medicinal liquid contains more components such as starch, protein, and sugar, it deteriorates faster.
4. To ensure the safety of drug use, the optimal temperature for storing vacuum-packed traditional Chinese medicine decoctions is 0~5°C, and the storage time is 7~14 days, but preferably not exceeding 7 days. On one hand, because the medicinal soup is often kept at room temperature for half a day to a day before being taken home for refrigeration, which can "accelerate" the deterioration of the medicinal soup. On the other hand, if the medicinal soup contains animal-based traditional Chinese medicines such as scorpions and centipedes, or traditional Chinese medicines with high sugar content such as prepared rhizoma rehmanniae and astragalus membranaceus, it will also affect the storage time. If the medicinal liquid bag bulges or the medicinal liquid changes in taste, with bubbles or other abnormal phenomena, it indicates deterioration and should not be taken.
