Chemistry of the Amazon, edited by Seidl, Gottlieb, Kaplan
Medicinal plants:
"What is a weed? A plant whose
virtues have not yet been discovered" (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
Drug discovery of Amazon' s flora
has mainly been done by the indigenous people. Amongst the research done
by scientists, the plants have mainly been investigated for only one of
their biological functions (often cancer-related). It is very difficult
to estimate the number of species which may be a medicinal agent. One thing
is sure, the indigenous are the most knowledgeable and if we don't catalogue
the knowledge of the shamans, the information might be lost forever (difficulty
fro the native tribes to maintain their traditions... )
Examples of therapeutic agents
discovered through ethnomedical knowledge: mandrake, henbane (yields scopolamine),
coca leaf, opium (morphine, codeine), curare (tubocurarine), calabar bean
(physostigmine), digitalis (digitalis glycosides), cinchona (quinine).
Unfortunately the percentage of drugs derived from plants has steadily
decreased in Northern countries and the richness of the biome is still
untapped. In developping countries, they remain the main mean of medication.
Possibility of creating team of
pharmaceutists to refernce indigenous knowledge with fair remuneration
and patent because it is the result of years and years of trial and error.
Need for germplasm banks.Possibility of marketing medicinal plants especially
now with new interest for more natural products and homeopathy.
Vegetable oils and fats
species with fruits containing
glyceride oils. usually plantation unnecessary (sufficiently abundant naturally).
some species have been selected by indigenous people and adapted to plantation.
Examples: buriti palm (Mauritia flexuosa), tucuma (Astrocaryum) -> red
pulp oils (market to be developped)
babacu -> lauric type oil, already
commercialized
pupunha or peach palm-> good native
specie for propagation in areas which have been cleared
use: ß-carotene in food (buriti,
tucuma and piquia oils), base components for cosmetics (from ucuuba fat,
butter-like pequia pulp oil and bacaba oil), analgesic and anti-inflammatory
creams (andiroba oil), salad oils (pataua pulp-oil).
Animal feeds:
residues of vegetable oil manufacture.
The cellulosic fibres can be converted to digestible food for the ruminants
by steam explosion. Oil-cakes (from Brazil nuts and kernels) are good food
for non-ruminants.
high-protein native plants: caraparu
in wet areas in very big amounts ( near mouth of Jari river). inexhaustible
supply of raw material for animal feed
essential oils:
rosewood (need to be planted in
disperse manner in natural habitat)
pataqueira
cumaru-tonka bean
good item for local community production
because easy to produce and good price if sold through distributors in
retal market. The support from a central chenical laboratory is necessary
for quality control (such sceme has been very successful in Bolivia with
Canadian IDRC participation).
insecticides and pest control agents
example: Derris roots produces
rotenone concentrate which contribute to the insecticidal activity. Could
be used on some markets where people don't like the product to be treated
with petrochemical derived pesticides. other species: quassia amara (sucking
insect control) , carapa (mosquito and chigoe flea repellent). Such a market
is estimated to reach a few hundred million dollars!
Balsams, resins
exudates from the bark of the Amazon
trees. they have the function to protect the tree from microbial agents
and fungi, so they can be used as microbicidal agents (ex: copaiba oil
treats inflammations, acts as skin antiseptic; the resin from Vismia species
must be solved in alcohol and will act agains fungal skin infections and
on wounds). This market is not profitable right now the way it is organized.
There are too many intermediary dealers for the producer to gain enough
from the production. Need of direct channel from distributor to retailer.
All these native plants are a great
potential resource for the sustainable development of Amazonia. Some would
need the development of a big market and be extracted on a large scale
with the help of big companies. Others can be harvested on a smaller scale
and sold on local markets. I will use some of these in the buffer zones
of my farm.