OFFICINAL PLANTS: COLDIRETTI PUGLIA, BOOM WILD AND MEDICAL HERB FOR A NATURALISTIC TURN; FROM TABLE TO PHARMACY FROM COSMETICS TO FASHION
The naturalistic turning point pushes the return of wild herbs and medicinal plants from the table to the pharmacy, from cosmetics to fashion with a boom that has brought the cultivated areas in Puglia to +300%, with national demand rising to 25 million kilos. This is what emerges from an analysis by Coldiretti Puglia, with a European market that has 450,000 tons of dried herbs and plants and over 100,000 tons of essential oils.
The potential of the sector is notable with the production of wild herbs and medicinal plants which could more than triple – adds Coldiretti Puglia – with notable effects on employment and related industries, limiting dependence on foreign countries to those exotic plants which due to climatic conditions and environmental ones cannot be cultivated in Puglia. Just as wild plants could become a valid alternative in Salento to avoid condemning it again to olive monoculture, after the disaster caused by Xylella.
There are almost 300 plants produced which – underlines the regional Coldiretti – thanks to their particular properties are used for herbal, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, liquor and culinary purposes, for the preparation of products for perfumery, for the confectionery industry, infusions, for crop protection, for personal hygiene, for the home or for obtaining essential oils or dyes for clothing. Among others – specifies Coldiretti – there are basil, helichrysum, peppermint, lavender, stevia rebaudiana, chili pepper, dandelion, marjoram, thyme, rosemary, sage, eucalyptus, myrtle, stevia and lippia, saffron, chamomile, echinacea and burdock.
Apulian farms cover an area of over 450 hectares cultivated with aromatic, medicinal and seasoning plants, which however covers just 3% of the national requirement, according to an estimate by Coldiretti Puglia based on ISTAT data.
The use of medicinal plants from abroad is still huge, with China – insists Coldiretti Puglia – being the main world producer so much so that approximately ¼ of the aromatic and medicinal herbs used by Italy come from the Asian giant. However, these are products that often do not respect the same standards of food safety, environmental safety and respect for workers’ rights in force in Italy as demonstrated by the fact that Beijing is at the top in the world for food alerts according to the analysis of the European rapid alert system (RASSF).
It is necessary that all products entering national and European borders respect the same criteria, guaranteeing that behind the Italian and foreign foods on sale on the shelves there is a similar quality path that concerns the environment, work and health – concludes Coldiretti Puglia – the importance of supporting national investments in a rapidly growing sector such as that of wild and medicinal herbs.
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