ABSTRACT
The purpose of processing is to prevent undesirable changes in the plant materials in a cost effective way, which control growth of microorganisms, reduce chemical, physical and physiological changes of an undesirable nature, obviate contamination and thus prolonging the shelf life of the concerned product. The development of modern methods of processing and preserving the raw material of medicinal plants helps to maintain their quality for a longer time [23]. To obtain high quality products attention should be given towards cultivation, post harvesting handling, processing and comprehensive quality control. The processing of plant materials can be accomplished by chemical and physical methods. Chemical processing involves the addition to plant material of such substances as sugars, salts, antioxidants, stabilizers or acids, or exposure of plant material to chemicals, such as smoke or fumigants.
