Research on standardization of medicinal herbs and creation of liver protective food products from Helicteres hirsuta Lour extract (Helicteres sp.) in Dak Nong province
Dak Nong is located on the M'Nong plateau, with an average altitude of 600 - 700m above sea level. Dak Nong runs long and lowers from east to west, with diverse, rich and strongly dissected topography along with common characteristics of a sub-equatorial monsoon tropical climate, characterized by high climate humid tropical climate, under the influence of the hot and dry southwest monsoon. With the diversity of nature, Dak Nong is assessed to have a rich and diverse flora and fauna with 1,489 species belonging to 768 genera, 186 families, and 6 vascular plants. To create motivation and orientation for the development of local resources, the Dak Nong Provincial Party Committee issued Directive No. 22-CT/TU dated September 20, 2017 "on the development of medicinal plants in Dak Nong province". Currently, the link chain model is considered a sustainable solution to promote strengths and create value from locally-specific medicinal herbs.
In order to create a scientific basis to build this linkage model, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology in cooperation with the Dak Nong Provincial People's Committee approved the project "Research on standardization of medicinal herbs and creation of liver protective food products from Helicteres hirsuta Lour extract (Helicteres sp.) in Dak Nong province” code VAST.02/19-20 conducted by the Institute of Tropical Biology from January 2018 to December 2020, and chaired by Dr. Bui Dinh Thach.
Field pictures of Helicteres hirsuta Lour tree distributed in Dak Nong
The specific objectives of the project include investigating the distribution of Helicteres hirsuta Lour species distributed in Dak Nong; analyzing activity and selection of raw material sources of Helicteres hirsuta Lour; standardizing the extract and creating a health food product containing Helicteres hirsuta Lour extract.
After two years of implementation, the project has obtained the following results: Identify 7 species in the genus Helicteres hirsuta Lour (Helicteres L.) in Dak Nong and announce 1 new species in the genus Helicteres hirsuta Lour distributed in Dak Nong (Helicteres daknongensis VSDang & DTBui); Through physiological and biochemical analysis, a highly active species distributed in Dak Nong has been selected; Standardize the source of medicinal herbs and create products containing herbal extracts capable of being tested in production and commercialization (with the following uses: antioxidant, free radical reduction, resistance enhancement, liver detoxification and liver protection). The topic has registered a trademark for ISO - Proliver products containing Helicteres hirsuta Lour medicinal herbs.
Image of identifying characteristics of species of genus Helicteres hirsuta Lour in Dak Nong province
Image of health care products containing Helicteres hirsuta Lour extract
On June 25, 2021, the Project was accepted by Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology and the People's Committee of Dak Nong province with the excellent results. In addition, the results of the project are highly appreciated by the locality and it has set out a plan to develop this source of medicinal herbs in the locality.
On the basis of the achieved results, the research team will continue to conduct research and develop local raw material areas, coordinate with enterprises to commercialize products from this source of medicinal herbs to create development model of the chain link for Helicteres hirsuta Lour tree in Dak Nong province.
Translated by Phuong Huyen
Link to Vietnamese version
