[MPWG] Devil's Claw Cultivation by Martin Bauer

[Plant Conservation]

Just FYI.  I have no affiliation with this product/project/company, so if
you're looking for more information please use the contact information
listed in the press release below.  There's also a contact if you're
looking for photos.

Olivia
SER/PCA

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Martin Bauer

Press Release dated 01.03.2004

Devil's Claw   devilishly good

Market leader Martin Bauer has been investing in the sustainable farming
of medicinal plants for many years now. Controlled cultivation of Devil's
Claw and controlled collection of wild-growing rhizomes safeguard the
natural populations on a long-term basis and constitute a successful means
of protecting the species.

Vestenbergsgreuth/Germany - Martin Bauer GmbH & Co. KG, the German herbal
and fruit tea producer, has been successful in accomplishing something
that no other company in the world has managed to achieve: cultivation of
the African Devil's Claw, which had previously only grown in the wild. "We
have proved that it is possible to cultivate Devil's Claw", Dr.
Hans-Jürgen Hannig confirmed the most recent growing achievements with
Harpagophytum procumbens in South Africa and Namibia. The head of Martin
Bauer's Cultivation department maintains constant contact with South
African partner Grassroots Natural Products C.C., the company coordinating
the cultivation projects on site. Many years of research were necessary in
order to grow cuttings with the desired concentration of harpagoside, the
active constituent. The pharmacopoeia stipulates 1.2 percent active
constituent as the minimum level, whereby the cuttings produced by means
of vegetative propagation contain up to as much as 2.3 percent harpagoside
- ideal for high-quality phytopharmaceutical extracts.

Cultivation project protects the species
The Devil's Claw growers were able to reduce the vegetation period of this
sensitive desert plant to just 18 months. In 2002, the first plantations
in South Africa and Namibia, the home of the Devil's Claw, were so
successful that it was possible to plant 250,000 seedlings on a large
scale in 2003. Harvesting will be taking place in June 2004, when around
40 metric tons of Harpagophytum procumbens will be collected. The HPLC
laboratory analysis shows that the cultivated drug is of a superior
quality to the wild plant in terms of purity, identity and active
constituent content. Freshly harvested and washed, then machine-cut and
dried immediately afterwards, the resulting Devil's Claw is of a high
hygienic and pharmaceutical quality.

The worldwide requirement for Harpagophytum procumbens, which has been
found effective in the treatment of arthritis, has increased in leaps and
bounds. The pharmaceutical industry's demands have led to a sudden,
dramatic increase in the harvested quantities. Growing wild, the
complicated desert plant needs to grow for four years or more before it is
ready for harvesting.

Amounting to between 600 and 700 metric tons of raw material, the world
market requirement can only be covered by wild plants for a short period.
Because the natural habitats of the Devil's Claw must not sustain any
permanent damage, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has been demanding
that the herbal product industry implement consistent measures to protect
the species. Martin Bauer takes this responsibility seriously and has
therefore been establishing future-oriented projects to ensure the
sustainable growing and harvesting of Devil's Claw and other raw materials
that are in short supply.

Controlled collection of wild-growing rhizomes supplements cultivated
produce
Apart from the cultivation of Devil's Claw, Martin Bauer and its South
African partners are also directing a project concerned with the
bio-certified collection of wild-growing Devil's Claw. This project aims
to teach chieftains and collectors how to harvest the rhizome in a
sustainable manner in order to preserve the populations. In many cases,
the method of collecting wild-growing plants up to now is virtually
equivalent to completely rooting out the medicinal rhizome. With
bio-certified collection of wild-growing plants, designated collecting
areas are divided into four quadrants, whereby only one is harvested each
year. This ensures that the Devil's Claw has sufficient time for
regeneration.

In addition to this, the collectors are taught to dig up just the
secondary rhizomes that contain the precious substances and receive
reimbursement for any loss of income incurred if the harvested quantities
are lower than usual. The successful project has been running in South
Africa for several years now. For Martin Bauer, sustainability not only
means conserving natural resources, it also involves establishment and
maintaining minimum standards for the welfare of the local inhabitants.
Controlled cultivation and the controlled collection of wild-growing
rhizomes will gradually replace the uncontrolled harvesting of wild plants
practiced in many places up to now.

Commitment to Nature
Martin Bauer's current success formula for the supply of raw materials
amounts to "70 percent from cultivated plants and 30 percent collected
from wild-growing plants". Camomile, peppermint, fennel fruit and thyme
are just a few of the products which are now produced completely (100%)
within the framework of contract cultivation. Other examples of successful
growing projects include ginseng in China, chilli fruit in Tanzania and
verbena in Paraguay. "Controlled cultivation not only conserves natural
resources and the foundation of the biosphere, but optimum selection also
produces the quality required by the customer", as Managing Director
Helmut Hack summarises the company policy. "Commitment to Nature" is the
corporate philosophy at Martin Bauer, which is being consistently
implemented in the careful handling of more than 200 different herb and
fruit-based raw materials.

"Transparent farming" optimises the quality of raw materials
The sustainable handling of plant-based raw materials has been one of
Martin Bauer's strategic corporate objectives for a long time now. The
world's largest herbal and fruit tea producer continues to pursue this
objective with the controlled farming of medicinal plants. The Cultivation
department has been growing varieties that produce an optimum yield of
effective constituents for many years, establishing a global network of
trustworthy partners who produce the raw substances for Martin Bauer
within the framework of "transparent farming" contracts. The cultivation
of Devil's Claw is the most recent landmark in the success of this raw
materials policy.

"Transparent farming" is the essential characteristic of controlled
quality. From seed selection and stipulation of the time for harvesting,
right through to regular monitoring of the soil quality, nothing is left
to chance. Martin Bauer puts the farmers under obligation to comply with
the EU GACP directives (Good Agricultural and Collection Practice) for
foodstuffs and medicinal products. A secure supply of customised raw
materials constitutes a crucial factor for the safety and reliability of
products for the food and pharmaceutical industries all over the world who
order their raw materials from Martin Bauer.

More detailed information about the project:
Conference on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, 7th to 9th September 2004 in
Jena, Germany.
Lecture given by Dr. Hans-Jürgen Hannig on "Initial experience with the
cultivation of selected clones of Harpagophytum procumbens in Southern
Africa".

Contact:
Martin Bauer GmbH & Co. KG, Dutendorfer Strasse 5-7, 91487
Vestenbergsgreuth, Germany,
eMail: welcome at martin-bauer.de , www.martin-bauer.de

Press information and photographs:
andrea.schulte at mbms.de