Jamaica Going After Big Money From Locally Grown Medicinal Plants
Island wants its share of projected US$240 billion market
BY PETRE WILLIAMS Jamaica Observer staff reporter
Monday, June 07, 2004
For years, Jamaica has been sitting on a virtual gold mine of locally grown medicinal plants that experts value in the millions of dollars, if only they could be processed for the burgeoning international market in nutraceuticals. But Jamaica has awakened from its slumber and things are about to change.
The state-run Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), which is heading up an initiative to establish a viable nutraceutical industry in Jamaica, estimates that all it needs now is money in the region of US$2 million to complete research leading to full-fledged commercialisation. Success in establishing the industry here will be more than worth it. PIOJ estimates the global market for medicinal plants was US$75 billion in 2002. With an annual growth rate of seven per cent, it is projected that the market should be worth US$240 billion by next year.
The multi-billion dollar enterprise in natural products is currently dominated by Europe and the United States, but consultant Christine Duncan says Jamaica could become a serious contender.
She is generously supported by the facts:
. the island already has market recognition with respect of its high-end ginger, sarsaparilla and coffee;
. there is a well-established tradition of folk medicine that employs the use of species found only in Jamaica;
. of the 348 local plants listed as medicinal, 13 per cent are endemic to Jamaica;
. crude extracts from 80 of the plant species studied have an effect on living tissue (are bioactive), with bioactivity found in 23 per cent of those endemic to the island; and
. natural products have been identified in 44 of the plants, 29 of which were bioactive.
The PIOJ and its partners in the initiative - the Scientific Research Council (SRC) and the University of the West Indies (UWI) - are convinced Jamaica could quickly get into production of things like dried and fresh herbs and herbal teas; essential oils and plant-derived purees; liquid extracts and tinctures; and exotic herbal drinks and cosmaceuticals.
They have been encouraged and motivated by the findings in an earlier research phase costing them a sizeable US$500,000.
Duncan said that the group was now busy preparing a proposal to submit to local and international donor agencies, hoping to raise the estimated US$2 million to complete the research. The Jamaican Government is expected to chip in with technical support. The project began in January of last year and is scheduled for completion in December 2005. Full Article>>
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