(1) whole seedling drying: after the whole seedling is harvested, the whole seedling drying is faster than the single drying of pepper, because when the pepper is on the seedling, the water can be distributed to the whole plant through the transportation organization, and the picked wet pepper is like a sealed container, and the horny membrane on its surface prevents the water from being distributed, which not only makes the pepper slowly dry, but also separates the wound formed by the pepper pedicle.
(2) Picking peppers in time: after harvesting, whole seedlings are dried. When the water content of pepper fruit drops to 18% ~ 20%, it is the best time to pick pepper. Pepper farmers call it "hand-shaking seeds", that is, with hand-shaking pepper seedlings, you can hear the sound of pepper seeds hitting the pepper wall. When more than 85% of dried peppers reach this level, they can be picked.
(3) Picking peppers skillfully by spraying water: high-quality peppers feel slightly elastic in your hand and will not break, but in actual operation, peppers will always break because they are too dry during picking. In order to solve this problem, spraying water mist on pepper trees 5 ~ 12 hours before picking peppers, the water temperature is 25 ~ 35℃, which can clean the surface of peppers, remove dust and soil, reduce the stimulation of spicy taste to people, and most importantly, greatly reduce the damage to pepper fruits when picking peppers. The technology of pepper farmers' management is called "artificial moisture regain", and water spraying is mainly aimed at the part where pepper fruits contact with plants.
(4) Cleverly breaking pepper: When picking dried pepper, the yellow pulp at the base of pepper is easily damaged due to improper force, resulting in incomplete pepper fruit and easy infection with germs. Therefore, when picking peppers, you can neither pinch nor pull them, but use the "breaking" force skillfully.
(5) Dehydration in the shade: The dried peppers after picking "artificial moisture regain" should be dehydrated and dried for the second time in the shade, such as in a ventilated and cool place or a well-ventilated room, instead of being directly dried in the sun. Years of production practice have found that the red color of dried peppers turns dim and the red color turns white, which makes the appearance of goods worse. The reason is that capsaicin contained in pepper will undergo photolysis reaction in the sun. After a period of drying in the shade, when the water content of pepper reaches the standard of 14%, pepper can be sold or stored after selection and classification. In practice, dried peppers can be folded in half and then opened. There are obvious white marks on the folding line. If there is no crack at the folding position, the water content of pepper should be around 14%. In particular, it should be pointed out that direct sunlight should be avoided as much as possible during the whole seedling drying, pepper picking and grading selection, and it is best to avoid light when stored for a long time.