Aiming to Promote Domestic Cultivation of Medicinal Plants

Abstract

In this review, I would like to introduce the details of the research work conducted by three departments (Division of Pharmacognosy, Phytochemistry and Narcotics, National Institute of Health Sciences, Research Center for Medicinal Plant Resources, National Institutes of Biomedical Innovation, Health and Nutrition and the Kochi Prefectural Makino Botanical Garden) for more than 30 years with the aim of promoting the domestic cultivation of medicinal plants. As a result of our research project, we published “The Guideline for Cultivation and Quality Evaluation of Medicinal Plants Part 1-13” from 1992 to 2019, including 68 monographs on medicinal plants; we also we established the Comprehensive Medicinal Plant Database and made it available to the public in 2013. However, the domestic cultivation of medicinal plants is only halfway through, as there are still many issues to be overcome. We continue to actively promote the cultivation of medicinal plants in cooperation with other organizations, so as to contribute to the stable procurement of raw materials for Kampo medicines.