Nanotechnology Boosts Medicinal Properties of Iranian Herbs
“The properties of medicinal plants with nano-dimension extracts increase significantly in a way that in some cases, the properties have seen a 10-fold improvement compared to ordinary extracts,” said Mehdi Ahmadi, the managing director of Jostojougaran Nano Sanat company.
He added that by using the herbal plants’ extracts in nano dimensions, they show some of their potential useful properties.
“Reducing the size of particles to the nanoscale increases their depth of penetration,” Ahmadi said, adding that the company has achieved the formulation of 30 types of extracts of herbal plants.
Figures show that Iran has exported more than $660 million worth of herbal medicines in recent years.
As a vast country with different climates, Iran is a suitable place for planting and growing different types of herbs, a report by the Vice-Presidency for Science and Technology says, adding that as statistics show currently, about 90% of medicinal herbs are grown inside the country.
Despite the fact that growing herbs can generate a lot of revenues for Iran, the country’s share of exports of these herbal medicines in the global market is not good at all.
Available official reports indicate that the value of exports of medicinal herbs and herbal medicines in 2012 was about $350 million while the figure has reached more than $ 660 million in recent years. The total value of exports excluding saffron is estimated to have reached at $370 million.
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