The Hindu Business Line : Biocampus to dissect herbal drugs

Kochi April 29 The biocampus set up by the Mar Athanasios College for Advanced Studies (MACFAST) at Tiruvalla in Pathanamthitta district is pursuing a unique path to become a trendsetter in education.

It has established a research and development centre for promoting need-based research programmes, Rev Dr Abraham Mulamoottil, Principal of MACFAST, said.

One of the areas of concentration is the Indian system of medicine (ISM), Ayurveda, which has a tremendous potential in the world market. In recent years, the growing demand for herbal products has led to a quantum jump in volume of plant materials traded within and across the countries.

`GOOD POTENTIAL'

There are around 7,800 manufacturing units in India. The potential for India to become a leader in the natural products, particularly in plant-based drugs, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and flavouring industries are immense, he said.

The global trade in herbal products in 2000 was about $72 billion, in which India's share was a meagre 2.5 to 3 per cent. The shift towards traditional systems of medicine in India and of late globally as food supplement, rejuvenating agent etc. will substantially raise the demand for the raw drugs.

TOUGH REGULATIONS

However, marketing of ayurvedic drugs in the developed world is a difficult task, as the efficacy of the drugs needs to be clinically proven apart from ensuring that they do not have toxic contents and metals such as lead and mercury.

At present, adequate research is not taking place in the country to study the different components/properties in medicinal plants and their effect on the human body.

MACFAST is in the process of setting up an advanced laboratory in its bio-campus. Already, some projects have been submitted to the Union Government for approval, assistance and support, Dr Mulamoottil said. Such a facility will benefit drug manufacturers, Ayurveda practitioners and students, he added.

TISSUE CULTURE

Another important area is the tissue culture department. This section is currently working on developing tissue culture nutmeg plants, which would start yielding after a gestation period of three years.

Normally, it takes seven years just to identify the gender of nutmeg plants. As a result, the production of this spice in the country falls short of demand.

"Given this scenario, we found that it would be an ideal proposition to produce high-yielding nutmeg planting material using tissue culture technology. Propagation of this could be done by the students on a commercial basis," Dr V. Raghurajan, Head of the Department, Plant Biotechnology, said. This project is financed by the State Government.

INCUBATION CENTRE

As part of the overall thrust for innovation and enterprise development and to cater to the needs of the food processing industries, the Department of Food Science and Technology at the college has established a pilot plant and incubation centre for education, research and development. This project is implemented with financial support from the Union Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Dr Mulamoottil said.

Mr C. Balagopalan, Director, Research and Resident Dean of the School of Biosciences, said that the centre provided limited seed money to "our incubates at reasonable rate of interest." Besides, the students of MBA programme of MACFAST along with a management consultant help incubatee companies to strengthen their business plan after conducting market surveys and financial feasibility. It also helps in finding business partners and venture capitalists and provides consultancy on business promotion, he said.

ALGAL BIOTECH

Another important project is the research on algal biotechnology. Ms Maya Subramoni has taken up a centrally sponsored project on algal resources available in the south-western coast of the country and its application in food products as a source of value addition. "It is a vital source that could be used to add value to food products," she said.

Besides, the MACFAST has become the second institution in India to conduct MBA course in biotechnology after the Pune University, Dr P.K. Abraham, Director, MACFAST said.

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