Generally speaking, Chinese herbal medicines purchased from regular pharmacies or pharmacies of medical institutions do not need to be washed before boiling.
First of all, Chinese herbal medicines in pharmacies or drugstores have gone through a series of concoctions (including removal of impurities, sun-drying, etc.) before being made into tablets, and their hygienic conditions are up to standard. In addition, many herbs contain water-soluble sugars and glycosides, and washing may result in the loss of some of the active ingredients dissolved in water, thus affecting the efficacy of the herbs, so Chinese herbal medicines generally do not need to be washed before boiling.
In addition, some Chinese herbs in the process of concocting added honey, vinegar, wine, bile and other auxiliary materials, such as honey-roasted ephedra, vinegar system of yuan Hu, wine system of rhubarb, gall bladder, etc., such herbs, if washed, will lead to the loss of some of the auxiliary materials may also affect the therapeutic effect of the drug.
It should be noted that, although the Chinese herbs do not need to be washed before boiling, but before boiling the medicine can be appropriate to check whether the herbs have mold, insect moth, to ensure the safety of medication.
Therefore, the correct decoction method is to put the Chinese herbal medicines into a pot of appropriate size, add appropriate amount of water (to soak over the herbs and more than 2-3 cm is appropriate), and soak for 30-60 min, so that the herbs are fully saturated, so that the active ingredients can be fully decocted in the process of decoction.