Status of medicinal and aromatic plants in - Inia

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WORKING GROUP ON MEDICINAL AND AROMATIC PLANTS: FIRST MEETING
Nowadays, MAPs in Poland are cultivated on an area of ca. 20 000 ha. The main
cultivated species are (in descending order of acreage and tonnage of purchased raw
material): Oenothera sp. (seeds) > Carum carvi (fruits) > Silybum marianum (fruits) > Mentha
piperita (leaves) > Chamomilla recutita (inflorescences) > Origanum majorana (herb) > Valeriana
officinalis (roots) > Thymus vulgaris (herb) > Melissa officinalis (herb) > Coriandrum sativum
(fruits) > Borago officinalis (seeds) > Cynara scolymus (herb) > Althaea officinalis (roots) >
Archangelica officinalis (roots) > Levisticum officinale (roots) > Salvia officinalis (leaves) >
Echinacea purpurea (herb and roots) > Ribes nigrum (seeds) > Ruta graveolens (herb) > Plantago
lanceolata (leaves).
The main MAP raw materials exported by Poland are: Carum carvi (fruits) > Oenothera sp.
(seeds) > Valeriana officinalis (roots) > Mentha piperita (leaves) > Thymus vulgaris (herb) >
Chamomilla recutita (inflorescences) > Potentilla erecta (rhizomes) > Hypericum perforatum
(herb) > Borago officinalis (seeds) > Tilia cordata (inflorescences).
The cultivation of MAPs in "ecological farms" (practicing organic farming) in Poland
started in the beginning of the 1990s. Unlike that of agricultural and animal organic
production, the increase in organic MAPs' acreage is relatively slow. Organic MAP
production is currently concentrated mainly in southeastern Poland. Seven major MAP
species are cultivated in 80 organic farms (Table 4) and about 15 other MAP species are
cultivated on smaller areas.
Table 4. Major MAP species cultivated in organic farms in Poland
Species
Cultivated area (ha)
Oenothera sp. 25
Borago officinalis 5
Valeriana officinalis 3
Thymus vulgaris 3
Nigella sativa 3
Mentha piperita 2
Ribes nigrum (leaves) 5
In 2001, 10 t of Rubus idaeus leaves and 6 t of Urtica dioica leaves were collected from
natural sites as raw materials.
In a few major Polish cities (e.g. Warsaw, Kraków, Poznań and Gdańsk) about 20 shops
specialized in organic food offer MAP products originating both from Poland and from
abroad. Such products are also sold in chosen grocers’ shops, under the special control of the
Polish Ecological Club in the town of Gliwice.
There are about 2500 herbal medicines, estimated at 200 million US$ per year, on the
Polish market. These include simple medicinal forms (e.g. dried herbs, herb mixtures,
granulates), more processed forms (e.g. tablets, capsules, dragees) and half-finished products
for pharmaceutical, cosmetic and food industry (extracts and essences).
For the production of extracts about 4000 t of raw materials of wild-growing plants and
about 8000 t of cultivated plants are used, most frequently Hypericum perforatum, Urtica dioica,
Valeriana officinalis, Betula verrucosa, Cynara scolymus, Chamomilla recutita, Silybum marianum,
Equisetum arvense and Thymus vulgaris. Herbal medicines are used mostly against disorders
of the digestive tract and as tonics and strengtheners. Among Polish plant preparations the
most popular are Sylimarol, Raphacholin C and Tussipect (Lutomski 1999).