Traditional Medicinals Foundation's Social Initiatives Empower Botanical FarmersBy Hannah Bauman Former Traditional Medicinals CEO Drake Sadler and Nioma Sadler have co-founded the Traditional Medicinals Foundation to advocate for social sustainability in the communities that produce the company's botanical raw ingredients. Through education, community outreach, and gender equality initiatives, the Foundation seeks to alleviate poverty and preserve the ancestral knowledge of the workers who are the beginning of the botanical supply chain. Read more >>
'Strengths and Limitations of DNA Barcoding' Article Published in Planta Medica JournalBy ABC StaffStefan Gafner, PhD, recently co-authored an article about the strengths and limitations of DNA barcoding for botanical materials, which was first published online in July in Planta Medica, a highly respected, peer-reviewed scientific journal. As Gafner and co-authors explain, this technology has become increasingly common, but there are a number of factors to consider when attempting to accurately identify plant-derived materials. Read more >>
Food as Medicine: Rutabaga (Brassica napus subsp. rapifera, Brassicaceae)By Hannah Bauman and Melanie LeslieThe less-glamorous cousin of turnips and cabbage, rutabaga has a small following in the United States but remains a childhood staple for the Scandinavian and British. Explore the root's chemical connection to its Brassicaceae family, including beneficial constituents like glucosinolates and phenols, for a multitude of reasons to include this healthful food on the next grocery list. Read more >>
ABC Hosts First Ethnobotany-Focused InternshipBy Connor YearsleyThe American Botanical Council (ABC) recently hosted its first ethnobotany-oriented internship. Chloe Fackler, an environmental biology and anthropology student at McGill University, in Montreal, Canada, wrote a comprehensive review of the historical uses by Native Americans of three plants native to Texas. Read more >>
By Nesnad (CC BY 2.0), via Wikimedia Commons
Chloe Fackler (left) and ABC's Jenny Perez
 |
Cannabis Taxonomy
Research Review:
Black Cumin & Mastalgia
Book Review:
Phytopharmacy
In Memoriam:
Adolf Nahrstedt
 |
Stephen Harris, a lecturer at Oxford University and the curator of the Oxford University Herbaria, focuses on plants integral to Western civilization in ways both overt and obscure and their influence on history, trade, politics, chemistry, and medicine. Harris features some common staples such as wheat, rice, and tea, but also includes plants with less obvious impacts like pineapple, thale cress, yew, and beets. Each plant receives its own chapter, in which their uses and histories are described, examined, and celebrated.
In a review of the book for an upcoming issue of HerbalGram, medical herbalist and psychotherapist Amanda McQuade-Crawford writes, "Harris has written an excellent and lively set of 50 essays, deftly weaving scholarly research with artistic use of ancient and modern botanical history." The text treats readers to short primers on ethnobotany as it views the world through its plants.
What Have Plants Ever Done for Us? can be purchased at the publisher's website. Reprinted with permission from What Have Plants Ever Done For Us? by Stephen Harris. © 2016 by The Bodleian Library. All rights reserved.
We have tested the links of the following articles prior to publication; however, some news organizations remove stories and disable links at various times.
It's Here! FDA Releases New NDI Draft Guidance. NutraIngredients-USA. August 11, 2016. Master Files and a grandfathered list are among the highlights in the FDA's new Draft Guidance for New Dietary Ingredient Notifications.
DEA Denies Petitions to Reschedule Marijuana But Will Authorize More Marijuana Manufacturing To Foster Research. The National Law Review. August 11, 2016. DEA Acting Administrator Chuck Rosenberg restated that "the current medical and scientific evidence demonstrates that marijuana has no currently accepted medical use."
A Start-Up Turns to Saffron to Help Afghanistan Regrow. The New York Times. August 10, 2016. Rumi Spice, a start-up created by three US Army veterans, brings high-quality saffron from Afghanistan to the global marketplace.
Cinnamon May Be Fragrant Medicine for the Brain. EurekAlert! July 21, 2016. Taking cinnamon can help improve learning in mice because of sodium benzoate's effects on the hippocampus.
Garden Researcher Assists with Establishment of National Park. Missouri Botanical Garden. July 19, 2016. In 2015, a researcher from the Missouri Botanical Garden assisted with research that would eventually lead to the creation of a 3,426-square-mile national park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Coca-Cola Turns to Baobab in New Low Calorie Soft Drink Brand. BeverageDaily. July 19, 2016. In Spain, Coca-Cola has launched a new, low-calorie soft drink called Aquarius Vive that contains baobab extract derived from the gigantic African baobab tree.
How Craft Brewers Advance Science, and Make Better Beer. The New Yorker. July 8, 2016. The never-ending search by some beer enthusiasts for new flavors is helping enable research into the hop plant's medicinal value.
--------------------------
Keep up to date with the latest herbal headlines with ABC's new online news feed: Herbal MediaWatch.
MHRA Review Shows Sports Supplement Industry Improvement. Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. August 3, 2016.
Medical Cannabis a Viable Strategy to Address the Opioid Crisis. Americans for Safe Access. August 9, 2016.
Three Quarters of the World's Threatened Species Are Imperiled from Agriculture, Land Conversion, Overharvesting. International Union for Conservation of Nature. August 10, 2016.
NPA Launches Warning Letter Database for Member Companies. Natural Products Association. July 26, 2016.
New USP Food Fraud Database Helps Industry and Regulators Mitigate Risk of Food Adulteration. US Pharmacopeial Convention. August 2, 2016.
Study: Medical Marijuana Laws Linked To Less Prescription Drug Use, Medicare Spending. NORML. July 14, 2016.
New Study Compiles Checklist of Known Amazonian Tree Species. Missouri Botanical Garden. July 13, 2016.
Chesapeake Herb Gathering
September 24-25. Waldorf, Maryland.
17th Annual Complementary Medicines Australia Conference
September 15. Sydney, Australia.
SupplySide West
October 4-8. Las Vegas, Nevada.
Promo Code: ABCSSW16 (Expires 9/30/16)
$50 Discount Off Expo Hall Only Pass Package
The Annual Conference of Bara Herbs
November 8-9. Yokneam and Shefayim, Israel.
American College of Nutrition's 57th Annual Conference Translational Nutrition: Optimizing Brain Health
November 9-11. San Diego, California.
More event listings can be found on ABC's website.
Looking to relax over your August holiday? Bastyr University recommends these five top herbs. Can you name them? Find the answer here!