A general look at Iran’s medicinal herbs and the industry of producing medicines and cosmetics

Welcome to an episode of the Iranian Market. In this episode we’re going to have a general look at Iran’s medicinal herbs and the industry of producing medicines and cosmetics by these herbs.

Human body is one of the most complicated secrets of creation. So far no school or medical center in the world has ever claimed to have gained a perfect knowledge of human body. Throughout the history of medicine and prominence of medical schools like the traditional medicine of Iran, China, India, Egypt and Greece and even the emergence of modern medicine, though lots of valuable knowledge and experiences had been gained for treatment of diseases and preservation of health, the world is still moving toward perfecting medicine.

The Iranian traditional medicine is one of the oldest schools with a rich scientific background. More than 14 thousand volumes have remained by prominent Iranian scholars of those schools. These books with their lofty language contain thousands of remedial prescriptions for treating diseases.

These prescriptions have been proved to be effective and totally scientific even after several centuries.

In more than 85% of these prescriptions, medicinal herbs are prescribed for patients. Prominent Iranian physicians like Abu Ali Sina, Zakaria Raazi, Ahvazi and Jorjani are among the scientists whose writings were used as the main sources of medicine for about six centuries in western countries.

Among the manifest characteristics of Iranian traditional medicine are the health- oriented outlook, consideration of spirituality and ethics, as well as dependence on natural and less harmful medicinal methods.

The Iranian traditional medicine is based on two parts: medicinal and spiritual (recitation of special prayers called zikr). From the viewpoint of traditional physicians, medicine and zikr are both effective and complete each other in curing diseases. The Iranian traditional physician, called Hakim or Tabib, by believing in the fact that God has placed remedy for every disease in the nature, recognizes herbs as one of the sources that play the most important role in preservation of health and treating illnesses.

The existence of nearly 8000 species of herbs in Iran, more than one fourth of which have medicinal usages, has put the Islamic Republic in a high rank in the world list in terms of herbs and environmental diversity.

More than 1700 species of medicinal herbs are native to Iran and are exclusively grown in this country which is a good capacity for Iran. This abundance enjoys such a capability that is considered as one of the important non-oil exports.

Al-Haavi written by Zakaria Raazi is one of the oldest books of traditional medicine.

Today there are 3000 companies and government and private centers working in the field of detecting, domesticating, planting, producing and extracting the effective materials as well as processing, and packaging medicinal herbs.

These products enter the market in the form of pressed juice, extract, essence and different herbal distillates and colors. Regarding the fact that herbal products and their use have a direct relation with the health of the society, the activity of the government sector alongside the private sector is an inevitable issue.

In the field of medicinal herbs, the government sector, by establishing scientific and technological parks and related institutes and schools, has tried to set the ground for educating and conducting theoretical and practical research in line with the qualitative and quantitative improvement of herbal products.

Thus, science- based companies as centers for industrialization of medicinal ideas and by presenting innovative products and the materials needed for market, are of paramount importance.

Today there are scores of science-based companies active in Iran that produce and sell their goods; hence, supplying the domestic needs and exporting them to different countries around the world including Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam.

Iranian Herb and Spice Association is one of the organizations that is active in the field of exporting Iran’s herbal products. This union with the website address of www.ihsta.ir is related to Iran’s Chamber of Commerce. This association has more than 250 branches. One of the branches of this association is Green Plants of Life which started its activities in 1969. This company was top on the list of Iran’s exporting herbal products in 2013 and its website address is www.greenplantsoflife.com. This company produces syrups, capsules, creams, gels, etc. with herbal sources.

This company’s care for the quality of basic materials with high world standards has made its agricultural products free of the remains of pesticides.

Among other Iranian brands in the field of producing herbal medicines mention can be made of Aasseh Yasouj, Barij Esans, Iran Darouk, Bu Ali Darou, Darou Darman Salafchegan, Gol Darou Pharmaceuticals, and Mehr-e- Giah.

The industry of producing medicinal herbs is one of the effective industries of the Iranian economy. This industry has been based on local know how, divine assets and science-based economy. The presence of these capacities has made it very lucrative to invest in this sector.