Status of medicinal and aromatic plants in - Inia

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In addition to these species, there is a special product collected by the Oulu District of the
Finnish 4H Association. During the last 10 years, 500-2200 kg of fresh sundew (Drosera
rotundifolia) was collected from peatlands and marketed mainly to Switzerland, and partly
domestically.
Cultivated herbs
During the last 15 years, interest in and cultivation of herbs has increased significantly. The
acreage of herbs in 1985 was 100 ha and in 2001 it reached 3600 ha. At present about
30 different herbs and medicinal plants are cultivated in Finland to various extents.
The most important herb is biannual caraway (Carum carvi), since its cultivation can be
easily mechanized. The area grown in l994 was 1560 ha. In 2001 it had reached 3600 ha,
spread over about 350 farms.
The second important spice seed is mustard (Sinapis alba). At its largest, in l991, the
growing area was about 400 ha, but due to price and quality problems its cultivation has
now nearly ceased. Presently the area of mustard is barely 50 ha.
The third important herb is the popular leaf dill (Anethum graveolens). In 1999 it was
cultivated on 162 ha (323 farms) outdoors and on 8.2 ha indoors. Nearly all dill is used in
fresh form for direct sale or in the processed food industry. Only a few tonnes are dried in
Finland.
Parsley (Petroselinum hortense) is the fourth important herb. It is cultivated outdoors and
indoors on a total of 20-28 ha, mainly for fresh consumption.
During the last 4-5 years, the cultivation of garlic (Allium sativum) has increased to 24 ha.
Production is widely distributed and is carried out on small-scale plots. Nearly 170 farms
are engaged in garlic cultivation.
About 10 different herbs, including some medicinal plants (e.g. Coriander, Angelica,
Oreganum, Mentha sp., Echinacea purpurea, Urtica and Artemisia dracunculus), are cultivated on
an area of between 1 and 5 ha/each. These plants are produced for further processing, for
the health food industry or for the growers' own products. The harvested raw materials are
dried, frozen or extracted.
About 20 different herb and medicinal plant species (Hypericum, Hyssopus, Matricaria,
Agastache, Calendula, etc.) are cultivated on less than 0.5 ha/species.
Use of medicinal plants by processing industries
Due to the small quantities and lack of information, only limited data are available about the
industrial use of herbs and medicinal plants. The data presented here were obtained
through personal contacts.
Nearly the whole caraway yield is exported from the country. Only 100-120 t of seeds are
used as a spice by the domestic food industry companies yearly.
The domestic food industry uses dill mainly in fresh forms (leaf, flowering shoot) and
only a few farms produce dried dill leaf packed for retail marketing (ca. 5 ha). Experimental
distillation of caraway seed oil and dill plant oil has been carried out for industrial use.
Some mint species (Mentha x piperita, M. x dalmatica) are cultivated, mainly for dry leaf
production and some experiments have been started for distillation of mint oils, mainly for
aromatization of local herb products.
Fresh leaf production of stinging nettle has been started from both collecting in the wild
and field cultivation for the production of special frozen food products.
The wild-collected sundew (Drosera rotundifolia) is exported in fresh form for the use of
medicinal industry, mainly to Switzerland, but it is also used to some extent in Finland.
Bearberry leaves (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi) are collected from the wild for further industrial
processing and the extract is used in the perfume industry abroad and in Finland.