Sustainable Medicinal Herbs

Many of us recognize the benefits of eating organic foods and weigh the risks when we don’t choose these products. Those dangers may include risks associated with foods grown from genetically modified seed, foods lacking nutritional value due to nutrient depletion of the soil in which they were grown, and foods possibly contaminated with toxic and persistent pesticides, hazardous herbicides, and chemical fertilizers.

The human physiology is incredibly resilient and perhaps can adapt to some of these influences for a period of time. But many consumers are concerned with the cumulative and long-reaching implications of ingesting these unnatural exogenous substances.

Organic Herbs

Many of us are discovering the importance of choosing natural and organic medicines to complement the foods we eat. Herbal medicines can represent a more concentrated form of potentially hazardous substances if the plants are not produced under organic methods, which is why organic medicinal herb production is rapidly shaping the natural products industry today.

Organic medicinal herb farms must follow the same stringent guidelines as other certified organic operations. More than 1.7 million acres of cropland in the United States are dedicated to organic production. In this country, certifying agencies accredited through the USDA National Organic Program (NOP) inspect and certify medicinal herb farms by insuring medicinal crops are grown according to stringent standards. NOP requires all seed used in organic farm operations to be certified organic. Farmers must maintain a long-term, ongoing organic fertility program developing good stewardship practices for the soil. This includes using natural fertilizers and soil amendments approved for organic production, as well as utilizing cover crops and crop-rotation strategies. Certified farms must document organic management procedures for handling harmful insects, soil fungi, and other predatory influences. Organic weed-control methods must be documented, as well. Under national organic standards, all farm equipment used to grow and harvest medicinal herbs must be maintained to ensure that leakage of fuels and oils into the soils is prevented.

An audited paper trail from seed to field to finished product is a requirement—not an option. National organic standards don’t stop at the borders of the certified farm, either. NOP requires adequate buffer zones in place between neighboring farms to avoid any potential of contamination to the organic crops and land.

Higher Quality

Although today’s standards are often arduous and costly to implement, they assure that the medicinal herbs are suitable for extraction and concentration into herbal medicines. With strong organic growing practices and validation programs in place, an organic medicinal herb grower can produce botanicals high in naturally occurring bioactive constituents.

Medicinal plants grown in organic soils on a certified farm are often much higher in the plant’s therapeutic constituents than conventionally grown herbs. A medicinal herb producer who extracts these highly therapeutic, potent plants will ultimately realize savings in labor costs and energy usage, as well as cost savings by using less extraction solvent during the production of the medicinal herbal extract.

Organic herbs also require organic grain alcohol for extraction. Herbal extracts produced by non-organic processors may use environmentally harmful and noningestible solvents including hexane, acetone, and industrial alcohols—all of which are potentially destructive to our environment.

Meeting the Challenge

Because herbal extracts are always concentrated for medicinal purposes, it is imperative that the herbs and selection of solvents used for extraction are of optimal standards. For example, a naturopathic physician treating a patient with milk thistle seed extract for a known liver disorder would not wish to have pesticide contamination or toxic solvent residues in the extract.

The challenge to produce healthy, organic herbal medicines is a compelling one indeed. Choosing only the highest-quality, therapeutic herbal medicines grown under strict organic standards raises the bar for those who use herbal medicines. No wonder growers and producers of certified organic herbal medicines are passionate about employing the “Seed to Finished Product” standard. They select only the finest certified-organic seed and must be capable of validating the true and correct identity of its genus and species. These organic growers/producers take great care to ensure that the herbal medicines are grown in nutrient-rich soils amended with natural fertilizers and soil support approved for organic production. They are also very careful to harvest their medicinal herbs at peak production of the plant’s therapeutic activity.

Postharvest handling practices are key for every successful organic herb grower. Much attention is paid to properly drying organic herbs so their bioactive properties do not deteriorate in this process. It’s also important to avoid any contamination during storage. The growers/producers take great care to extract the herbs with alcohol approved for organic production of medicinal herbs, rather than using hexanes and other harmful solvents. And they take care to make certain that organic herbal medicines are concentrated without harming the vital constituents of the herbal extracts.

Organic growers/producers also maintain a strong program for validating the strength, purity, and efficacy of the herbal medicine. Required testing ensures that the herbal extract is free of microbial contamination, heavy metal toxicity, and residual pesticide contamination, while at the same time rich in the plants’ vital and active constituents. Quality is paramount throughout every step of the process. This is an opportunity that organic growers and producers of herbal medicines are committed to uphold today—not just for the sake of producing organic herbal medicines but also to improve the tilth of the earth and the health and well-being of individuals consuming herbs as medicines.

A guiding thought for consumers: Ask your natural products retailer for guidance in choosing those companies committed to producing herbal medicines with this vision in mind. As we transformed the way we view food, it’s time to transform our choices in healing herbs.

A respected herbalist and educator, Ric Scalzo is the president, CEO, and founder of Gaia Herbs, Inc. Publisher and contributing author of the Protocol Journal of Botanical Medicine, Mr. Scalzo is also the coauthor of Herbal Solutions for Healthy Living, an herbal repertory and therapeutic dispensatory guide to the safe and effective use of medicinal drugs, and Traditional Medicines from the Earth, a compendium of formulations that are effective herbal solutions for healthy living.