Business Accent

India's own treasure house

There is an increase in demand for herbal products in the global market. The reason for this is believed to be the fear of untoward side-effects that the use of synthetic drugs can bring on. It is time India, with its traditional background and rooting in herbal medicines, tapped this potential the right way

Pankaj Jain

That the global herbal market is riding high on a wave of fear may be true to a certain extent, but another aspect has to be taken into consideration the world has now understood the efficacy of herbal formulations. Exhaustive clinical data and benefits have proven the superiority of herbal formulations over other drugs.

According to present estimates, the herbal market has an annual turnover of about $60 billion, and with a growth rate of seven percent, it has the potential of touching the $5 trillion mark with 35 million job man-days by 2050. Ironically, though considered a botanical paradise having huge potential in valuable medicinal herbs, India's share in the present global herbal market is a mere 0.2 percent. This is because India was unable to match certain global requirements regarding quality assurance parameters a few years back. Today the situation is rapidly improving due revolutionary steps adopted by manufacturers in the Ayurvedic industry.

About 80 percent of the world's population relies on traditional medicine, particularly herbal drugs for their primary healthcare. The western population is looking for safe and effective natural remedies. So the focus has shifted to utilise eco-friendly and bio-friendly plant-based products for prevention and cure of various diseases. India, which is famous for ayurveda well-recorded and traditionally well-practiced medical science possesses over 3,000 plants known for their medicinal value. In fact, there are very few medicinal herbs of commercial importance which are not found in this country. There are nearly 7,000 licensed manufacturing units in India engaged in manufacturing Ayurvedic, Sidha and Unani formulations. India will be able to meet the requirements of about 75 percent of the medicinal needs of the Third World countries.

Despite this fact, China has overruled the market share in herbal trade. India, with its traditional background, has real potential, and it is high time its share in the world market increased. This can be achieved by careful product recognition based on demand and supply. In order to promote Indian herbal drugs, there is an urgent need to evaluate the therapeutic potentials of the drugs as per WHO guidelines. Unfortunately, very few Indian products are available in standardised form, which is the minimum requirement for introducing a product in the Western market. It is a challenge to the industry to stick to strict quality control and assurance.

A helping hand

There is a list of 51 diseases and health conditions mentioned in the Drugs and Cosmetics Act as "Diseases and ailments (by whatever name described) which a drug may not purport to prevent or cure or make claims to prevent or cure". Considering the authenticity of Ayurvedic texts, this should not be strictly executed. It is essential to value the reliability of Ayurvedic texts and be allowed to claim the formulations for specific health conditions. The formulations mentioned in original texts have strong back-up of clinical evidence and are therapeutically effective even after several years.

Bronchial asthma, diabetes, diseases and disorders of the uterus, epileptic-fits and psychiatric disorders, fairness of the skin, increase in brain capacity and improvement of memory are some of the conditions where Ayurvedic treatments have been successful and the reports have been documented in international journals. Still, if the law does not allow these to be extolled, how will the world trust us? Offering tax exemptions and excise benefits are simply tools for export promotion. But the truth is that proper positioning and targeting becomes difficult for exporters.

A treasury of wisdom

The science of Ayurveda has a legendary history. The formulations mentioned were clinically evaluated with the available resources of those times. Modern research methodology is simply making an attempt to re-establish the efficacy of those formulations using the new techniques available today. The best example of this issue is the case of Patent of Mississippi Medical Centre in 1995 for using turmeric to heal wounds. It is a different story that India won the case, but the important thing here is to understand that the benefits of turmeric is mentioned in Ayurveda.

Take the issue of patenting a process for stabilising azadirachtin (neem extract), thus giving this natural insecticide a longer shelf-life. This is not theft of traditional knowledge but an improvement on it. Other inventors can further improve on it, rendering W.R. Grace's patent obsolete. This invention too is based on Ayurveda.

Some herbs are becoming highly popular globally because of the new research focused on exploring the therapeutic values of those individual herbs. That brahmi, for instance, can enhance intellectual performance is now widely accepted. Scientists from across the world have acknowledged its value.

Researchers have made attempts to establish the mode of action and the active principle which acts to add to the brahmi's therapeutic benefits. Besides this one therapeutic activity, Brahmi also imparts cooling, laxative, and astringent actions. It is good for skin diseases, benefits in anemia, anti-aging, improves voice, cough, inflammations, fever etc. We have been able to establish only a few properties but there is still a vast gray area. Ayurveda mentions some amazing compositions. One such is for prevention of stretch-marks. This provides miraculous clinical results. It is strange that scientists of the beauty conscious 21st century have not yet been able to make use of such valuable formulations.

What is essential is to systematically gather and document the full knowledge, conserve plants threatened with extinction, and study all ancient texts on medicinal herbs. This will yield promising leads for future research. Even if the herbs themselves are of limited therapeutic value, identifying their active ingredients can lead to developing derivatives that are more potent. With a more positive approach to traditional knowledge and optimisation of research and development, it is possible to prove to the world the richness of Ayurveda, the hidden treasury.

From identification to cultivation

Proper identification of the herbal species with the help of eminent botanists is the first step. Procurement of best quality seeds for harvesting is the next step and then comes cultivation. It may be difficult for small sized companies to establish such a system but not so

for larger companies. Procurement of fertile land, scientific farming, organic cultivation, and a buy-back agreement with farmers would be an ideal approach to support cultivation of medicinal herbs. It was done in case of aloe vera by many companies. It will help achieve consistent quantity with adequate quantity of active principles in specific medicinal herbs. This could be an additional step towards conservation of bio-diversity and receiving the right quality of plant material for formulations. At the same time, estimation of active principle identification and standardisation of the material should be done at the lab level.

Clinical evaluation

Ayurveda is a goldmine and India is fortunate to have this in hand. The need for clinical trials of the formulations has become an indispensable part of the industry. Hidden formulations like Masan-umas kashayas should be clinically evaluated. This is an innovative concept even for modern medicine. There is a list of nine different formulations for prevention of habitual abortions. These formulations, containing around six herbal ingredients in each, are prescribed as per the progression of each gestational month. There are also highly potential areas of clinical significance like formulations for prevention of stretch-marks, herbal paste for control of adipose tissue, and a paste for new hair growth.

There are thousands of formulations mentioned in the books of Ayurveda. It is high time these were rediscovered, evaluated clinically as per modern scientific means, and presented to the world.

(The author is CMD, Sydler Remedies. He can be contacted at sydlerremedies@gmail.com)