Fast-Freezing Chopped Tender Herbs

Abstract

An exemplary method for preserving fresh herbs includes obtaining fresh trimmings from a plant, grinding and/or chopping the fresh trimmings to form processed trimmings, packaging the processed trimmings in a container, and freezing the processed trimmings in the container. Freezing the processed trimmings may include subjecting the processed trimmings to a dry ice atmosphere.

1 .- 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . A method for preserving fresh herbs, the method comprising:
 a. grinding and/or chopping fresh trimmings from a plant to form processed trimmings, wherein the grinding and/or chopping occurs less than 96 hours from a time the fresh trimmings are obtained from the plant;   b. packaging the processed trimmings in an interior environment of a sealable container; and   c. freezing the processed trimmings by placing the container in a chamber containing dry ice, wherein the processed trimmings are never in direct contact with the dry ice, and wherein oxygen is substantially removed from the interior environment of the container and the container is sealed.   
     
     
         22 . The preserved fresh herbs produced by the method according to  claim 21 . 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the grinding and/or chopping occurs less than 24 hours from the time the fresh trimmings are obtained from the plant. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the freezing occurs less than 30 minutes from the grinding and/or chopping. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 24 , wherein the grinding and/or chopping occurs less than 24 hours from the time the fresh trimmings are obtained from the plant. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the fresh trimmings are obtained from a single plant. 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the fresh trimmings are obtained from at least two different plants. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the fresh herbs consist of one type of herb. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the fresh herbs comprise two or more different types of herbs. 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein, upon thawing one year after freezing of the processed trimmings, the processed trimmings have at least 75% of the polyphenols measured immediately prior to freezing. 
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the freezing comprises subjecting the processed trimmings to dry ice temperatures. 
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the freezing comprises subjecting the processed trimmings to a dry ice atmosphere. 
     
     
         33 . The preserved fresh herbs according to  claim 25 . 
     
     
         34 . A method for preserving a fresh weed or bud of a plant, the method comprising:
 a. grinding and/or chopping fresh trimmings from the plant to form processed trimmings, wherein the grinding and/or chopping occurs less than 96 hours from a time the fresh trimmings are obtained from the plant;   b. packaging the processed trimmings in an interior environment of a sealable container; and   c. freezing the processed trimmings by placing the container in a chamber containing dry ice, wherein the processed trimmings are never in direct contact with the dry ice, and wherein oxygen is substantially removed from the interior environment of the container and the container is sealed.   
     
     
         35 . The preserved fresh weed or bud according to  claim 34 . 
     
     
         36 . A method for preserving plant material from a plant, the method comprising:
 a. grinding and/or chopping fresh trimmings from the plant to form processed trimmings, wherein the grinding and/or chopping occurs less than 96 hours from a time the fresh trimmings are obtained from the plant;   b. packaging the processed trimmings in an interior environment of a sealable container; and   c. freezing the processed trimmings by placing the container in a chamber containing dry ice, wherein the processed trimmings are never in direct contact with the dry ice, and wherein oxygen is substantially removed from the interior environment of the container and the container is sealed.   
     
     
         37 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the plant comprises one or both of marijuana and hemp. 
     
     
         38 . The preserved fresh herbs of  claim 22 , wherein one or more organoleptic properties of the preserved fresh herbs are substantially identical to the one or more organoleptic properties of the fresh trimmings from the plant. 
     
     
         39 . The method of  claim 34 , wherein the freezing occurs less than 30 minutes from the grinding and/or chopping. 
     
     
         40 . The method of  claim 36 , wherein the freezing occurs less than 30 minutes from the grinding and/or chopping.