- Traditional Medicine > Traditional, Complementary and Herbal Medicine
- Quality and Safety: Medicines > Quality Assurance
(2003; 80 pages) [French] [Spanish]
Collection practices should ensure the long-term survival of wild populations and their associated habitats. The population density of the target species at the collection site(s) should be determined and species that are rare or scarce should not be collected. To encourage the regeneration of source medicinal plant materials, a sound demographic structure of the population has to be ensured. Management plans should refer to the species and the plant parts (roots, leaves, fruits, etc.) to be collected and should specify collection levels and collection practices. It is incumbent on the government or environmental authority to ensure that buyers of collected plant material do not place the collected species at risk.
Medicinal plant materials should be collected during the appropriate season or time period to ensure the best possible quality of both source materials and finished products. It is well known that the quantitative concentration of biologically active constituents varies with the stage of plant growth and development. This also applies to non-targeted toxic or poisonous indigenous plant ingredients. The best time for collection (quality peak season or time of day) should be determined according to the quality and quantity of biologically active constituents rather than the total vegetative yield of the targeted medicinal plant parts.
Only ecologically non-destructive systems of collection should be employed. These will vary widely from species to species. For example, when collecting roots of trees and bushes, the main roots should not be cut or dug up, and severing the taproot of trees and bushes should be avoided. Only some of the lateral roots should be located and collected. When collecting species whose bark is the primary material to be used, the tree should not be girdled or completely stripped of its bark; longitudinal strips of bark along one side of the tree should be cut and collected.
Medicinal plants should not be collected in or near areas where high levels of pesticides or other possible contaminants are used or found, such as roadsides, drainage ditches, mine tailings, garbage dumps and industrial facilities which may produce toxic emissions. In addition, the collection of medicinal plants in and around active pastures, including riverbanks downstream from pastures, should be avoided in order to avoid microbial contamination from animal waste.
In the course of collection, efforts should be made to remove parts of the plant that are not required and foreign matter, in particular toxic weeds. Decomposed medicinal plant materials should be discarded.
In general, the collected raw medicinal plant materials should not come into direct contact with the soil. If underground parts (such as the roots) are used, any adhering soil should be removed from the plants as soon as they are collected. Collected material should be placed in clean baskets, mesh bags, other well aerated containers or drop cloths that are free from foreign matter, including plant remnants from previous collecting activities.
After collection, the raw medicinal plant materials may be subjected to appropriate preliminary processing, including elimination of undesirable materials and contaminants, washing (to remove excess soil), sorting and cutting. The collected medicinal plant materials should be protected from insects, rodents, birds and other pests, and from livestock and domestic animals.
If the collection site is located some distance from processing facilities, it may be necessary to air or sun-dry the raw medicinal plant materials prior to transport.
If more than one medicinal plant part is to be collected, the different plant species or plant materials should be gathered separately and transported in separate containers. Cross-contamination should be avoided at all times.
Collecting implements, such as machetes, shears, saws and mechanical tools, should be kept clean an