PGR News from the Pacific

Posted 2:14 PM by Luigi

Africa looking to raise standards for herbals

A quality push for producers of African medicinal plants could help bring more novel products onto Europe’s herbals market, reports Dominique Patton. Can the Pacific learn from this experience?

http://www.nutraingredients.com/news/news-NG.asp?n=57793-africa-aiming-for

New herbal products are in “desperate demand” by European supplement companies, according to UK natural products consultant Denzil Phillips, as industry seeks novelty and innovation to boost the rather slow sales growth in recent years.

Africa offers a rich and diverse source of little known medicinal plants - it holds more than 25 per cent of the world’s biodiversity - and some of its products displayed at recent natural product exhibitions have generated "loads of enquiries", says Phillips.

However tough requirements for quality by leading supplement makers and a wave of new European regulations make it increasingly difficult for herbal products to enter the market.
A major research programme, aiming to develop a series of trading standards for the top 50 medicinal plants grown in Africa, could help to make this process a little easier, suggests Phillips.

The standards will be based on quality control, rather than monographs, he told NutraIngredients.com, and are being worked on by a pan-African research group.

Quality standards for the first 20 products under review will be discussed at a meeting in South Africa next month.

“It is not easy launching any exotic product in Europe but these standards will be very useful for anyone looking to submit a dossier [to support a product under new herbal regulations]," he said.

Some African plants have become popular in Europe in recent months, including the herbal known as umckaloabo (pelargonium reniforme), which is taken as a natural antibiotic and seeing strong interest in Germany under Schwabe's Sptizner business.

Hoodia is another African plant getting significant attention after a licensing deal between UK-based drug developer Phytopharm and global food manufacturer Unilever. Phytopharm has shown the plant to have appetite-suppressing qualities, although supplies, collected from the wild until the Phytopharm investment, are currently restricted.

Devil’s claw and pygeum extract, a rival to saw palmetto, are also increasingly sought in Europe.



	A blog maintained by Tevita Kete, PGR Officer Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), Suva, Fiji Islands
This weblog documents the activities of Pacific Agricultural Genetic Resources Network (PAPGREN), along with other information on plant genetic resources (PGR) in the Pacific. The myriad varieties found within cultivated plants are fundamental to the present and future productivity of agriculture. PAPGREN, which is coordinated by the Land Resources Division of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), helps Pacific countries and territories to conserve their crop genetic diversity sustainably, with technical assistance from the Bioversity International (BI) and support from NZAID and ACIAR. SPC also hosts the Centre of Pacific Crops and Trees (CEPaCT). The CEPaCT maintains regional in vitro collections of crops important to the Pacific and carries out research on tissue culture technology. The CEPaCT Adviser is Dr Mary Taylor (MaryT@spc.int), the CEPaCT Curator is Ms Valerie Tuia (ValerieT@spc.int). PAPGREN coordination and support IPGRI ACIAR NZAID CTA SPC PAPGREN CEPaCT Click on the thumbnail to see a map of the locations of Pacific genebanks. Click here to download a regional directory of genebanks in the Pacific, including information on their location, contact details and holdings. PAPGREN partners Mr William Wigmore Director of Research Ministry of Agriculture Department of Resources & Development P.O. Box 96 Rarotonga Cook Islands Tel: (682) 28711-29720 Fax: (682) 21881 Email: cimoa@oyster.net.ck Mr Adelino S. Lorens Chief Agriculture Pohnpei Office of Economic Affairs P.O. Box 1028 Kolonia Pohnpei 96941 Federated States of Micronesia Tel: (691) 3202400 Fax: (691) 3202127 Email: pniagriculture@mail.fm Dr Lois Englberger Island Food Community of Pohnpei Research Advisor P.O. Box 2299 Kolonia Pohnpei 96941 Federated States of Micronesia Email: nutrition@mail.fm Mr Apisai Ucuboi Director of Research Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries & Forest Koronivia Research Station P.O. 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Box 1828 Boroko National Capital District Papua New Guinea Tel: (675) 3235511 Fax: (675) 3234733 Email: kambuou@global.net.pg Ms Laisene Samuelu Principal Crop Development Officer Crops Division Ministry of Agriculture, Forests, Fisheries & Meteorology P.O. Box 1874 Apia Samoa Tel: (685) 23416-20605 Fax: (685) 20607-23996 Email: lsamuelu@lesamoa.net Mr Jimi Saelea Director of Research Department of Agriculture and Livestock P.O. Box G13 Honiara Guadalcanal Solomon Islands Tel: (677) 27987 Mr Tony Jansen Planting Materials Network Kastom Gaden Association Burns Creek, Honiara P.O. Box 742 Honiara Solomon Islands Tel: (677) 39551 Email: kastomgaden@solomon.com.sb Mr Finao Pole Head of Research Ministry of Agriculture & Forests P.O. 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DIVA-GIS	Wednesday, February 02, 2005 Posted 2:14 PM by Luigi Africa looking to raise standards for herbals A quality push for producers of African medicinal plants could help bring more novel products onto Europe’s herbals market, reports Dominique Patton. Can the Pacific learn from this experience? http://www.nutraingredients.com/news/news-NG.asp?n=57793-africa-aiming-for New herbal products are in “desperate demand” by European supplement companies, according to UK natural products consultant Denzil Phillips, as industry seeks novelty and innovation to boost the rather slow sales growth in recent years. Africa offers a rich and diverse source of little known medicinal plants - it holds more than 25 per cent of the world’s biodiversity - and some of its products displayed at recent natural product exhibitions have generated "loads of enquiries", says Phillips. However tough requirements for quality by leading supplement makers and a wave of new European regulations make it increasingly difficult for herbal products to enter the market. A major research programme, aiming to develop a series of trading standards for the top 50 medicinal plants grown in Africa, could help to make this process a little easier, suggests Phillips. The standards will be based on quality control, rather than monographs, he told NutraIngredients.com, and are being worked on by a pan-African research group. Quality standards for the first 20 products under review will be discussed at a meeting in South Africa next month. “It is not easy launching any exotic product in Europe but these standards will be very useful for anyone looking to submit a dossier [to support a product under new herbal regulations]," he said. Some African plants have become popular in Europe in recent months, including the herbal known as umckaloabo (pelargonium reniforme), which is taken as a natural antibiotic and seeing strong interest in Germany under Schwabe's Sptizner business. Hoodia is another African plant getting significant attention after a licensing deal between UK-based drug developer Phytopharm and global food manufacturer Unilever. Phytopharm has shown the plant to have appetite-suppressing qualities, although supplies, collected from the wild until the Phytopharm investment, are currently restricted. Devil’s claw and pygeum extract, a rival to saw palmetto, are also increasingly sought in Europe. * Comments: Post a Comment	Archive October 2002 November 2002 December 2002 January 2003 February 2003 March 2003 April 2003 May 2003 June 2003 July 2003 August 2003 September 2003 October 2003 November 2003 December 2003 January 2004 February 2004 March 2004 April 2004 May 2004 June 2004 July 2004 August 2004 September 2004 October 2004 November 2004 December 2004 January 2005 February 2005 March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 April 2007 May 2007 June 2007 July 2007 August 2007 September 2007 October 2007 November 2007 December 2007 January 2008 February 2008 March 2008 April 2008 May 2008 June 2008 July 2008 August 2008 September 2008 October 2008 November 2008 December 2008 January 2009 February 2009 March 2009 April 2009 May 2009 June 2009 July 2009 August 2009 September 2009 October 2009 November 2009 January 2010 RSS Feed Alternative feed Contact Tevita Something new: Agrobiodiversity Weblog: For discussions of conservation and sustainable use of the genetic resources of crops, livestock and their wild relatives. 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