Status of medicinal and aromatic plants in - Inia

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WORKING GROUP ON MEDICINAL AND AROMATIC PLANTS: FIRST MEETING
Since the establishment of the Institute for Medicinal Plant Research "Dr Josif Pančić"
(1948), much has been learned about the pharmacological features of MAPs. Other
institutions also deal with evaluation of chemical content, active substances and qualitative
composition of MAP drugs, as well as their influence on cells of bacteria, fungi and cancer
(Faculty of Pharmacy, Faculty of Technology, Faculty of Chemistry, Faculty of Biology, etc.).
The special challenge for the coming decades, in our opinion, is cultivation and/or
improvement of new technologies for production of endangered medicinal plants, because
many of them are still not cultivated. Among them, the following species could be stressed:
St John's wort, eyebright, yarrow, Lady's mantle, gentian, chicory, uva ursi, digitalis,
agrimony, borage, centaury and many others. Production technologies have already been
developed for some endangered or vulnerable medicinal plants and therefore it is expected
that their production will increase in the future (sage, hyssop, valerian, angelica, lemon
balm, marshmallow, etc.). It is important to emphasize that many species controlled by the
state may be used for cheap and very efficient soil conservation, i.e. for preventing both
erosion and leaching of hilly-mountainous soils (e.g. sage, hyssop, lavender, mugwort).
Breeding and further selection of MAPs in Serbia, together with the proper choice of
habitat for their production, is of great importance. There are indications that more than half
of all cultivated MAP areas are sown with non-registered seeds, resulting in low yields and
uncertain drug quality (Dr Slobodan Drazić, personal communication).
Furthermore, the acquisition of both cultivation technologies (where more efforts should
be dedicated to weed and pest control) and modern raw processing methods is necessary. It
is also important to define the current capacities for MAP production (habitat properties, soil
characteristics, climate, irrigation possibilities, availability of machinery and processing
facilities), to supply proper seed or seedling material, to cooperate with state and private
enterprises and scientific institutions and to analyze the whole financial framework and
possible risks.
Application of molecular genetics technologies to MAP studies could provide further
possibilities for evaluation of suitable genotypes and quality evaluation of MAP products.
No serious research at the molecular level on MAPs has been conducted in F.R.Y. so far.
However, the Department of Botany of the Faculty of Agriculture (University of Belgrade) in
cooperation with the Royal Botanical Gardens in Kew (United Kingdom) has undertaken a
new and promising project considering diversity and evolution of different species of the
genus Thymus, mostly endemics of southeast Serbia and the Balkan Peninsula. This research
will include determination of collected plant material according to cDNA sequencing. It is
expected that results will serve for further cultivation and selection of certain thyme species.
At the beginning of 2002 the Ministry of Science and Technology of Serbia approved and
started financing several national scientific projects that encompass all aspects of MAPs, both
fundamental and applied.
There is indeed hope for future opportunities for more intensive collaboration with
neighbouring countries and all other EU countries through common participation in
international projects involving multidisciplinary research on MAPs, including the
development of a common database.
References
Adamović, D. 2000. The most important results on selection of medicinal and aromatic plants. Pp. 241-
251 in Proceedings of the First Conference on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants of Southeast
European Countries, 29 May-3 June 2000, Arandjelovac, Yugoslavia. Institute for Medicinal Plant
Research “Dr Josif Pančić” and Federal Institute for Plant and Animal Genetic Resources, Belgrade.