Hot spots and difficulties in the development of plant extracts！

With plants as raw materials, plant extracts can directionally collect and concentrate one or more useful ingredients in plants through physical and chemical extraction and separation processes without changing the structure of useful ingredients. Plant extraction is a new type of work in the last 20 years. It is widely used in food, medicine, cosmetics, agriculture and other fields. Although it is not a long time, the development momentum is very fast. The development and application of plant extracts has become an important strategic measure for enterprises to improve their competitiveness.

History and status quo before launch

China is rich in Chinese herbal medicine resources. There are more than 10000 kinds of Chinese medicinal materials. Only 1000 to 1200 are commonly used. During this period, about 90% of Chinese herbal medicines were plants. The extraction and utilization of plant ingredients has a long history, but it does not constitute an independent industry. It was not until the 1970s that some domestic pharmaceutical factories began to extract Chinese herbal medicine mechanically, but it was still only a part of medical work. Plant extract is a term that includes modern processing technology. It first developed in Europe and the United States in the 1980s. With the progress of industrialization and the deep utilization of resources, plant extracts are gradually favored by shopping malls for their natural and healthy characteristics. Limited by technology, we started late in plant extracts, but the export of plant extracts of traditional Chinese medicine alone accounts for more than 40% of the total export of traditional Chinese medicine. The industry is also developing towards high quality, gradually shifting from a single raw material export to diversified applications.

Advantages of plant extracts

The green consumption concept of returning to nature has become a consumption fashion. The natural characteristics of plant extracts meet the needs of customers and are conducive to building a sustainable ecological shopping center. Plant extracts are the central link of the entire industrial chain. It is connected with agricultural planting in the upstream and carries out product research and development and application in the downstream. Its product line is highly variable, and its cost and technical input are unique. It is applicable to different stages of enterprise investment and production. Its industrial added value is unchanged and higher.

Application of plant extracts

Plant extracts have many types and functions. An extract usually has different functions, but it can be divided into four categories: coloring, spice output, pharmacological effects and health care functions.

Color: plant pigment is the main component of plant color. Some plants are rich in pigment, which can be used to extract pigment. There are dozens of plant pigments in China, such as curcumin, safflower yellow pigment, radish red, beet red, sorghum red, pepper red, etc. Flavor: Plant extracts are usually rich in characteristic components that can effectively affect the senses, such as sweeteners and volatile substances. Natural sweetener is a popular new type of sweetener. It not only has excellent sweetness, but also is an ideal substitute for sucrose, with obvious health care functions. For example, stevioside, siraitin, etc. Essential oil is a concentrated volatile substance, usually used to prepare spices. This is also the work with the lowest application threshold and the least restrictions of laws and regulations among plant extracts. Pharmacological effect: Traditional Chinese medicine has a long history and is very prosperous in Asia. In recent years, driven by the concept of traditional Chinese medicine, it has become world-famous.

Health function: The components of plant extracts include glycosides, acids, polyphenols, polysaccharides, terpenoids, flavonoids, alkaloids, etc. These ingredients have been proved to have biological activity during discussion and have a significant impact on human health. Developing its health function has become the mainstream application trend of plant extracts.

Difficulties

The fierce demand of shopping malls has driven the rapid development of work, but there are still many problems to be solved.

This is bound by primary laws and regulations. Different countries have different requirements for plant extracts and different product applications. For example, dietary supplements are a major product in North America. Mainly European health products and botanicals; In China, traditional Chinese medicine and food additives are mainly used. Different uses directly affect the applicability of material types. As long as the qualified categories can enter the mall, there will be more constraints.

Secondly, industrial processing is unevenly distributed. Due to the limitation of technical conditions, China mainly focuses on crude extracts, while the deep development is restricted by technology and regulations, so the development is not ideal and lacks competitiveness internationally.

Third, the supporting system is not perfect. Plant extracts are a new industry in China. In the meantime, most of them have no corresponding production standards and specifications, the supervision is short and smooth, and the product quality is good and bad. There is still a long way to go in the industry standard.

Take curcumin as an example: curcumin is a hot functional food material, especially in North American shopping malls. Curcumin has covered many fields such as dietary supplements, beverages, cosmetics, etc. It is mainly used as food colorant in China. Although its functional food has been listed, it takes a long time to register and approve, and the cost of enterprise development is high. Recently, turmeric powder is proposed to be included in the fixed draft supplemented by the list of health food accessories as health food accessories. Although the maximum application rate was set, the application of turmeric powder had a great promotion effect.

Although there are many constraints to the work of plant extracts, it is undeniable that plant extracts are an unstoppable 'rising star'.