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Chinese Medicine
Published in: Chinese Medicine 1/2016

Open Access 01-12-2016 | Review

Conservation and sustainable use of medicinal plants: problems, progress, and prospects

Authors: Shi-Lin Chen, Hua Yu, Hong-Mei Luo, Qiong Wu, Chun-Fang Li, André Steinmetz

Published in: Chinese Medicine | Issue 1/2016

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Abstract

Medicinal plants are globally valuable sources of herbal products, and they are disappearing at a high speed. This article reviews global trends, developments and prospects for the strategies and methodologies concerning the conservation and sustainable use of medicinal plant resources to provide a reliable reference for the conservation and sustainable use of medicinal plants. We emphasized that both conservation strategies (e.g. in situ and ex situ conservation and cultivation practices) and resource management (e.g. good agricultural practices and sustainable use solutions) should be adequately taken into account for the sustainable use of medicinal plant resources. We recommend that biotechnical approaches (e.g. tissue culture, micropropagation, synthetic seed technology, and molecular marker-based approaches) should be applied to improve yield and modify the potency of medicinal plants.
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Metadata
Title
Conservation and sustainable use of medicinal plants: problems, progress, and prospects
Authors
Shi-Lin Chen
Hua Yu
Hong-Mei Luo
Qiong Wu
Chun-Fang Li
André Steinmetz
Publication date
01-12-2016
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
Chinese Medicine / Issue 1/2016
Electronic ISSN: 1749-8546
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s13020-016-0108-7

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