Can wolfberries be exposed to the sun? Can wolfberries be exposed to the sun if they are damp?

Wolfberry has a well-developed root system and a strong ability to adapt to the environment. It likes moisture and is drought-resistant. Moreover, wolfberry likes plenty of sunlight and needs to be planted in a sunny place. If it is planted in a cool place, it will not be conducive to flowering and fruiting, but avoid direct sunlight in summer.

After the fruit is formed, it is dried in the sun and becomes the wolfberry we eat. But can the wolfberries we bought be exposed to the sun? If they are a little damp, can they be directly placed in the sun?

Can wolfberries be dried in the sun?

Wolfberry contains sugar, which tends to soften in summer, so you should store it in a cool and dry place. In addition, wolfberry is not easy to dry when it comes into contact with water, so when storing wolfberry, try not to get it wet, and wash it before eating. The stickiness and blackening of wolfberry that you see is mainly the result of preheating and moisture.

Wolfberry contains a lot of sugar, so as long as the temperature is higher, about 20 degrees, it will become sticky, just like sugar will stick together in summer. In addition, wolfberry cannot be exposed to moisture, because moisture will cause the sugar in the wolfberry to come out and stick together.

If wolfberries become sticky, do not expose them to the sun, as they will become stickier the longer they are exposed. This is because wolfberries are afraid of heat, and the hotter they are, the stickier they become. If they become sticky, you can seal them completely and place them in the refrigerator or freezer. After a day or two, take them out, crack them open, and then put them back in the refrigerator.

Fresh wolfberry drying time

Because the sunlight is too strong during the day in summer, fresh wolfberries should not be exposed directly to the sun . This will cause the fruit color to darken and affect the quality of the fruit. They should be dried in a shaded, well-ventilated, backlit place.

If you want to improve the drying efficiency, you can avoid the strongest sunlight period from 11:00 to 15:00, and dry the wolfberries in the sun outside this period . In September, when autumn comes and the sunlight is no longer strong, you can put the wolfberries in the sun all day to dry.

Try to avoid turning the wolfberries when drying them, as turning them can easily damage the peel, which will turn black when dried.

If it is rainy and you have to turn the fruit over to prevent mold, you can use a wooden stick to gently tap the bottom of the drying rack. This will separate the fruit from the bamboo curtain and promote drying. Fresh wolfberries can generally be dried in 7-10 days, and the ratio of fresh to dry before and after drying is about 4:1 .

Dewaxing and sun-drying wolfberry

Drying is a very time-consuming step before wolfberries are sold. Nowadays, in order to shorten the drying time, many places usually use dewaxing technology on the freshly harvested wolfberries.  

  Soak the freshly harvested wolfberry fruit in a 2%-4% edible sodium carbonate (i.e. alkaline) aqueous solution for one minute. The edible sodium carbonate aqueous solution will react chemically with the wax layer on the surface of the fruit, and the wax layer will be eliminated after the reaction is completed.

This will speed up the evaporation rate of water in the fruit, thus improving the efficiency of drying. Generally speaking, the drying time of the fruit after dewaxing treatment will be shortened from 7-10 days to 5-6 days .