Plant extract industry faces serious challenges

But with the increasing scarcity of wild resources, how to achieve sustainable development becomes plant extracts industry’s big problems which need to be solved. Plant extracts is the main force for China's merchandise exports. It accounts for more than 40% of exports value in traditional Chinese medicine products Although plant extracts industry is an emerging industry, it develops rapidly over the past decade. Data show that in 2001 exports value of Chinese plant extract is only $ 191 million, by 2009 exports value had reached to $ 693 million, an average annual growth rate of 17.1%. Moreover, in recent years, exports of plant extracts showed more volume and price growth trend, especially in the average export prices rose significantly. January to August this year, Chinese exports of plant extracts showed steady growth, with exports of 5.1 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 16.5%, 43.1% of total merchandise exports of traditional Chinese medicine, Chinese medicine products driving growth in exports as the main driver. Nutrition industry, including health food, functional food (except health food), dietary supplements, special dietary products, "Nutrition neutral" foods, organic foods, nutritional raw materials (including all kinds of nutrients and a variety of animal and plant extracts, active substances new resources such as food), etc., and plant extracts is an important guarantee for the development of nutrition industry. Chinese plants, animals, minerals are relatively abundant, large-scale farming can be more adequate for the nutrition industry to provide the raw material supply. In addition, China also has many other countries have no or relatively few varieties of raw materials, such as jujube, sea buckthorn, in spirit and so on. Development with Chinese characteristics and advantages of the extraction of goods species, nutrition and health industry for the Chinese domestic and international market development to provide protection. Good prospects for development of plant extracts to stimulate the rapid development of industry. However, in plant extracts industry for the better, while one has a problem. Plant extracts industry in promoting the development of traditional Chinese medicine industry has a positive meaning. However, the vast majority of plant extracts from wild resources. Due to excessive hunting and excessive Luancai increase in international trade, and many endangered wild Chinese herbal medicine resources. Profit-oriented and profit-making is the main reasons leading to this phenomenon. Due to people's increasing demand for medicinal plant resources, conventional excavation methods can not meet people's needs. Wildlife resources of the disorder excavation, not only violated the precepts of natural wildlife resources, but also the production of medicinal plants of ecological damage to the environment, but also affect the recovery of the resource update Taking the licorice with quite rich resources for example, men and women set up camp in the wild type under excavation, the area decreased by 70%, 80% reduction in reserves; 2005 the price of Hypericum perforatum rose from 6 RMB / KG to 12 RMB / KG, under the lure of huge profits, Hypericum perforatum has been difficult to find in the wild. China consumes over one million tons of plant resources annually. For rhodiola and podophyllotoxin, because of their slow rate of natural regeneration, artificial cultivations are still at the laboratory stage unsuccessful and it is very vulnerable to make resources endangered. On one hand, it is about the rapid development of industry, Resveratrolon the other hand is about the rapid consumption of resources. How to achieve balance between the two is an important problem on plant extract industry which need to be solved. Apart from the government to increase the intensity of the management of wildlife resources, the company can try to carry out introduction and domestication cultivation. Most herbs can be planted resources such as water milk thistle, Morinda, saffron, etc.; for those resources and species such as Chinese caterpillar fungus which can not be cultivated, they can have mycelium cultivations. At the same time, protection areas of traditional Chinese medicine resources should be established for endangered wildlife. Strengthening the protection of ecological environment and actively looking for endangered alternatives are also necessary. Many Chinese plants contain the same active ingredients; it non-endangered species can be used to extract the active ingredients instead of some endangered species. Resource: http:// www.cospcn.com