Domestication of medicinal plants

the “espinheira-santa” experience (maytenus ilicifolia mart. ex reiss)

Abstract

The growing consumption of medicinal plants is a consistent trend in Brazil and the world. Even though the number of farmers planting medicinal plants has risen, it is still not enough, in particular for the production of native species. Even when the medicinal plants are apparently abundant, their continued used must be based on farming or sustainable management of areas where the plants appear naturally, in order to ensure the supply in the quantity and with quality needed. They must be domesticated. In the domestication process of the species, one must not lose sight of the fact that the objective is not – pure and simply – multiplying numbers of individuals of a specific species. The success in domestication and inserting native wild species in different production systems is associated to the availability of material for propagation with necessary genetic and physiologic quality. On the other hand, the pressure placed by the demand does not allow us the time to carry out all the research required to obtain ‘improved’ propagation material. The strategies adopted to obtain the basic information for domestication of native wild medicinal species must be adapted to match the peculiarities of this reality. Espinheira-santa is used here to illustrate this process.