Medicinal and Industrial Crops Research

 

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Contact: Dr SO Amoo
Tel: +27 (0)12 808 8000
E-mail: amoos@arc.agric.za

​​Medicinal plant propagation

Regeneration or propagation of medicinal plants is crucial to their survival. Research and development on medicinal plants require a sustainable supply of quality medicinal plant material. Medicinal plants can be propagated from seeds, cuttings or bulbs. Seed propagation of many medicinal plants is however, hampered by various factors such as seed parasitism, low seed viability, low germination rate, etc. The availability of corms and bulbs as propagules in some species is increasingly becoming limited due to their over-harvesting, which is linked to a continuous demand for these plant parts in traditional medicine. Thus, in addition to studies on seed biology, our focus is on optimising different propagation methods (including in vitro multiplication) to rapidly multiply medicinal plants in quantities enough to supply research and commercial markets.

Medicinal plant cultivation

Medicinal plants can be cultivated to sustainably supply the market with medicinal plant materials. Yet, there is a dearth of available information about the cost of production of these plants.

Different cultivation practices such as fertilisation, irrigation, harvesting methods, planting date, etc need to be optimised for improved growth and yield.

At the same time, the medicinal activity of cultivated plants must be monitored to ensure that the activity is not compromised by such cultivation practices.

Thus, changes in medicinal properties due to cultivation practices are carefully evaluated and managed in order to obtain a plant with optimum use for its medicinal properties.

Agro-processing of medicinal plants

Agro-processing of medicinal plants involves the set of techno-economic activities carried out for conservation and handling of medicinal plants to make it usable as herbal medicine, food supplement or industrial raw material.

The scope of the agro-processing of medicinal plants encompasses all operations from the stages of cultivation, harvesting and processing until the material reaches the end users in the desired quality and at an affordable price.

Rural agro-processing of medicinal plants has large potential for growth and socio-economic impact, specifically in relation to job creation and income generation.

Developing agro-processing of medicinal plants in South Africa will certainly have a significant impact on the supply and marketing of a wide range of processed medicinal plant products.

Moreover, the introduction of suitable less-complex industrial equipment to medicinal plant agro-processors will increase production volumes, enhance skills development and contribute to the mainstream economy.

The research focus is to guide the medicinal plant sector in South Africa towards the optimization of all the practices and processes involved.

This is done through the on-going R&D besides implementing the national and international guidelines on quality assurance such as: Good Agricultural Practice (GAP), Good Collection Practice (GCP), Good Hygiene Practice (GHP), Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP), Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP).

Thus, the agro-processing of medicinal plants helps in building technical capacity for medicinal plant products, improved market access and competitiveness.

Analytical studies, biological activity and safety of medicinal plants

Our medicinal plant laboratory in collaboration with some universities and research institutions undertakes different tests on the effects of all the trials (propagation, cultivation, processing and storage) on medicinal plants. These include phytochemical analysis (active ingredients, nutritional and mineral content), biological activities (antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, etc) and safety evaluation (cytotoxicity and genotoxicity). Studies investigating the effect of using plant extracts for treating plant diseases caused by bacterial and fungal pathogens are also conducted.

Medicinal plant genebank

As medicinal plants are researched, many of these species are collected and maintained in a genebank. Collection of medicinal plants from different areas is important since natural variation influences research on medicinal plants. Record keeping of all these collections is very crucial for reference purpose and to direct research in future. The plants in the genebank are characterised and evaluated to investigate natural diversity in terms of medicinal compounds, propagation and characteristics important for breeding.