Ja: Big money in the herbs

The multi-billion dollar enterprise in natural products is currently dominated by Europe and the United States, but consultant Christine Duncan says Jamaica could become a serious contender. She is generously supported by the facts:

. the island already has market recognition with respect of its high-end ginger, sarsaparilla and coffee;

. there is a well-established tradition of folk medicine that employs the use of species found only in Jamaica;

. of the 348 local plants listed as medicinal, 13 per cent are endemic to Jamaica;

. crude extracts from 80 of the plant species studied have an effect on living tissue (are bioactive), with bioactivity found in 23 per cent of those endemic to the island; and

. natural products have been identified in 44 of the plants, 29 of which were bioactive.