For the harvest of valerian, all the leaves of valerian turn yellow, and the best time is to harvest in mid-July of the lunar calendar. Use a hoe to dig up the whole root. Pay attention to minimize the breakage of the root, remove the soil and residual stems and leaves. If it rains when harvesting, it must not be digging. Wait until the soil is dry before digging. The dug roots cannot be washed with water. Wet roots Or the amount and quality of the root oil will be reduced. Do not expose it to the sun or dry it, otherwise, the oil contained in the rhizome and roots of Valerian root will be volatile. Therefore, put the excavated rhizomes and roots in the shade and spread them out to be processed for steaming.

Equipped with steaming tools, a large earthen stove, a large pot, a steamer made into a bucket with cedar boards above the pot, and a filter under the steamer to prevent the raw materials from leaking out of the pot. There is a lid on the top of the steamer, leaving 3cm on the lid. The height of the cage is filled with water as a seal. A hole 10CM is inserted under the cage cover. A bamboo pipe is used to connect the large opening of the stainless steel cooling elbow. The elbow is installed under the sink to ensure that the sink does not leak. If the water leaks, use a plastic film pad and remove the elbow. The small mouth is connected to the filter separator with a rubber tube. The separator is made of two small holes in the middle of a bamboo tube. The small holes are divided up and down, with a difference of 5cm. Connect the holes with a rubber tube. Introduce the outflowing water into the pot, the oil flows from the upper hole, the water flows from the lower hole, and the impurities sink at the bottom of the cylinder.

During the distillation process, put the valerian root into the steamer, leave a 15cm high gap on the top, and cover the lid. Seal it with yellow mud each time, and fill the lid with water to prevent water leakage and lid deformation. Along the side of the pot, use yellow mud to seal the oil for the first steaming. After the second steaming, use the roasted roots to pinch and seal it. Seal all pipe joints with cloth, wrap bamboo pipes with damp cloth, and check frequently to ensure that no air leaks anywhere. The cold water is put into the large opening of the elbow of the sink, and the water flows out from the small opening of the elbow, and all work is ready. Burn the fire, boil the water in the pot, and steam the raw materials to gasify the raw materials to produce gasified oil. After cooling through the elbow, it becomes liquid oil, valerian oil.

Distillation principle, which adopts "gasification centrifugal cooling principle". The simple process is as follows:

Valerian raw material (gasified by heating)→oil, water, impurity mixed gas→sink elbow (cooling)→oil, water, impurity mixed liquid→filter separation→valerian oil