Dried raw plant materials serve as starting materials for any plant-based product, encompassing diverse phytochemicals. Ensuring high quality of plant-based products requires not only good agricultural practices, but also careful post-harvest handling, particularly thorough Post-harvest Storage Practices of Dried Raw Plant Materials (PhSPPMat). Storage conditions and duration profoundly affect the overall quality of dried raw plant materials. This first-ever comprehensive review summarises the changes in dried raw plant materials during their post-harvest storage. It enlightens the complex multifaceted interplay of different environmental influential factors such as temperature, humidity, light, packaging, and duration on the quality and shelf-life of dried raw plant materials. The review highlights changes in organoleptic traits, phytochemical content and composition, biological activity, and microbial load as intuitive indicators for quality evaluation of dried raw plant materials. The impact of storage is shown to be plant species-specific, part-specific, and compound-specific with certain chemical markers identified as potential storage quality-related. Moreover, few post-harvest storage related chemical markers specific to plants. We also suggested practical recommendations on good post-harvest storage practices and stability testing protocols of dried raw plant materials. The valuable insights presented here aim to guide and captivate researchers, plant-based industries, and consumers toward maintaining and utilizing dried plant materials of consistent quality.
Graphical abstract
