SBIR-STTR Award

The herbal dietary supplement and phytopharmaceutical industries rely on plant material as basic components for their products. That raw material is inherently variable, making standardization of end products very difficult. Since phytochemicals are often produced in response to environmental influences, a horticultural system that reduces environmental variation can improve the uniformity of the plant material. This proposal outlines a study to evaluate the feasibility of using aeroponics a tape of hydroponics, for production of clean, consistent raw materials for botanical-based health products. Specific engineering modifications have been incorporated into the aeroponic design, intending to maximize root production and reduce plant to plant variability within the system. The new design will be tested in a greenhouse experiment using a fast-growing plant, Arctium lappa (burdock), and the horticultural and phytochemical yields will be quantified in a statistically valid study. Specific lignan derivatives will be quantified as marker compound(s) for estimation of the quality of the material. Root material harvested from the aeroponic system will be compared to root material from plants grown in soil. Other root crops will be evaluated in future studies, as well as automated systems for successive harvests of roots from perennial species. PROPOSED COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS: The commercial potential for this technology lies in providing large and small scale growers a method for producing clean consistent raw materials for the herbal and phytopharmaceutical industries.

In order to accurately assess the efficacy of botanical products, consistent materials are needed for clinical studies, as well as a guarantee of sustainable access to commercial volumes of those materials should the products prove useful. This proposal addresses exactly that by developing a sustainable horticultural production method that can provide clean, unadulterated, and consistent raw materials for the herbal dietary supplement and phytopharmaceutical industries. The technology investigated is an innovative type of hydroponics called aeroponics, with engineering modifications and crop management practices specifically designed to maximize the biomass production and phytochemistry of crops, with an emphasis on root crops. The SBIR Phase I research demonstrated the feasibility of using aeroponics for biomass and phytochemical yields of burdock, the Phase II research will explore the universality and appropriateness of the aeroponic technology for various medicinal root crops, developing improved prototype aeroponic systems and testing those systems with different model crops: stinging nettles (Urtica dioica), purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea), yerba mansa (Anemopsis califomica), and black cohosh (Cimicifuga racemosa). Various experiments will be conducted in the aeroponic systems, examining the flexibility and control the grower has over the crop environment and measuring the effects of those parameters on biomass and phytochemical yields.

Thesaurus Terms:
agriculture, medicinal plant, plant ecology, plant growth /development, root, technology /technique development lignan, phytohormone, plant extract alternative medicine, biotechnology