Lecture: "Sustainability and certification in the production of medicinal plants"

Medicinal plants are in great demand worldwide: after all, 80 percent of the world's population use plants as the basis for tea drugs, phytopharmaceuticals or as isolated pure substances. Many of the medicines we can buy in pharmacies contain herbal raw materials, but where do they come from and how do they get from the plant to the packaging? Important medicinal plants such as peppermint, camomile, lemon balm and artichoke have been cultivated in the fields for decades in order to meet the high demand. In terms of the number of species, however, around two thirds of the medicinal drugs on the market come from collections in the wild, with only one third coming from cultivation. The increasing exploitation of wild stocks is a growing problem, as is compliance with quality standards. European companies often source the medicinal plants for their phytotherapeutic products from Eastern European countries such as Romania or Bulgaria. These countries still have wild stocks of medicinal plants and, above all, cheap labor. What does this mean for consumers? How can we tell where the drugs come from, under what conditions they were collected or produced and whether the herbal remedies on offer are of good quality?
Birgitt Boor reports from her almost 25 years of experience as a consultant in the context of organic farming. She has worked in 40 countries around the world, primarily with smallholder farmers, and is very familiar with sustainable value chains, market analyses, trade standards, quality management and certification programs.

The event is part of the accompanying program "Die Grüne Apotheke - vom Hortus Medicus zur Pharmaforschung" by the Verband Botanischer Gärten e.V. There will be an opportunity to visit the exhibition from 6 pm.

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Marina Hethke (Dipl.Ing.agr./MA Environment & Education) Curator
University of Kassel, Greenhouse for Tropical Plants
Steinstraße 19
37213 Witzenhausen
Tel. 05542 - 981231 Fax: 05542 - 981230

homepages:
Tropical greenhouse: www.tropengewaechshaus.de
WeltGarten: www.weltgarten-witzenhausen.de