|
|
|
|
|
HerbalEGram: Volume 6, Number 4, April 2009
ABC Receives Grant for New Ayurvedic Herbal Garden
|
The American Botanical Council (ABC) announces the creation of a new herb garden based on medicinal herbs from the ancient Ayurvedic healing tradition. The garden will be planted and maintained at the Case Mill Homestead, ABC’s 2.5-acre headquarters in Austin, Texas. Funding for the new garden is being provided by a grant from Nature’s Formulary LLC (Clifton Park, NY) and Organix-South Inc. (Bowling Green, FL), both producers of Ayurvedic herbal dietary supplements and related personal healthcare products.
Ayurveda is the 5,000 year-old tradition of healthcare originating in India and now practiced all over the world. Commonly used Ayurvedic herbs include some of the world’s famous medicinal spices, such as ginger (Zingiber officinale) and turmeric (Curcuma longa), as well as other popular medicinal herbs, like the multipurpose neem (Azadirachta indica), the revered tonic ashwagandha (Withania somnifera), and brahmi (Bacopa monnieri), an herb that demonstrates improved cognitive activity.
“We are quite excited to be a part of this project as it will increase consumer awareness and exposure to more of the beautiful herbs from the Ayurvedic pharmacopeia,” said Kate Goldrick, key accounts and marketing manager of Organix-South.
“Our company is grateful for the opportunity to work with such a premier educational organization like ABC in such a meaningful manner,” said Kristin Giulani, national sales and marketing manager at Nature’s Formulary. “ABC has been a true leader in the area of education in herbs and related scientific areas for over 20 years, and it has always honored the rich herbal tradition from Ayurveda.”
Ayurvedic herbs will be selected with the help of ABC's Founder and Executive Director Mark Blumenthal, as well as various Ayurvedic herb and horticultural experts. The herbs chosen for the ABC garden from the great variety of Ayurvedic herbs will be those that are deemed to be the best suited for long-term growth in the relatively warm Texas climate. The Ayurvedic herbal tradition in India includes thousands of medicinal plants from all types of geographical and environmental regions in India and beyond, some of which are not suited to the relatively warm and dry growing conditions in Austin.
Speaking at ABC’s 4th Annual American Botanical Celebration held recently at the Natural Products Expo in Anaheim, California, Blumenthal said: “ABC has been educating consumers, healthcare professionals, researchers, educators, industry, and the media on the safe and effective use of herbs and medicinal plants since 1988. We believe the addition of an Ayurvedic herb garden to the extensive variety of herbal theme gardens at our Case Mill Homestead will help further the information and education about medicinal plants based on the world’s oldest system of traditional healing.” |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|