Natuextract

The sector of medicinal and aromatic plants and extracts is a very diversified source of work and business opportunities. Currently, the demand for products containing active ingredients derived from plants shows a growing worldwide increase especially in the pharmaceutical and food industry. In 2008, the global market accounted for 83 billion dollars and is estimated to border the 115 billion dollars for the year 2020.

This increase could be due, among other reasons, to the concern of people to use medicinal extracts derived from plants and free of side effects attributed to synthetic medicines. Chile has a rich and varied flora with a large number of species to which medicinal properties are attributed.

Before the arrival of the Spaniards, the Mapuche culture already used more than 200 herbs to alleviate various ailments. Currently, thanks to a cadastre of medicinal plants developed by the Ministry of Health in collaboration with the Association of Yerbateros of Chile, it is known that in the country there are about 460 different plant species with potential medicinal properties.

Within this cadastre is Hypericum perforatum, also known as Hypericum, Hypericon or St John’s wort. This herb is very effective in the treatment of mild or moderate depression and anxiety, reduces inflammation, relieves stomach pain and is used as a diuretic. In fact, in Germany, this herb is included in the official pharmacopoeia used by any professional in your doctor’s office to naturally treat depression, anxiety and sleep disorders. Currently there are some products in the international market based on Hypericum perforatum, which present a scarce technological development and vague information on the standardization and quantification of the compounds of interest, as well as null conservation and stabilization of these, which does not ensure that they maintain intact its functionalities over time.

Due to these limitations, the opportunity arises to obtain a commercial product with real technological development in its formulation, incorporating microencapsulation as an innovative technology, which would increase its commercial value compared to the existing competition in the market.