TEHRAN – Some 25 percent share of the medicinal herbs market in the country is held by knowledge-based companies.

For several years, the field of medicinal plants and natural products has been seriously favored by knowledge-based and technological companies.

Thanks to the support of the headquarters for promoting medicinal herbs at the vice presidency for science and technology, talented figures are increasingly entering the medicinal herbs industry, IRNA reported.

In addition to these measures, the law for knowledge-based production leap seriously facilitates the entry of talented figures and knowledge-based companies into various industries.

Accordingly, more than 800 companies are active in the value chain of medicinal plants and natural products industry.

The export revenue of medicinal plants is estimated at $700 million, the head of the Vice Presidency for Science and Technology, Rouhollah Dehghani, has said.

Stating that out of 2,500 medicinal plants, 1,800 of them are endemic to Iran, he emphasized that Iran with its own strong history of traditional medicine and a rich ecosystem of medicinal plants has a huge opportunity for increasing share in the national and global market.

According to the document approved by the Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution, it is predicted that there is at least $3 billion of capacity in the country in this field, and it can reach $15 billion by focusing on the peripheral technologies, he noted.

In this regard, the biggest support measure for knowledge-based companies is market building, in which we can develop domestic and foreign markets, he also suggested.

Iran ranks fourth worldwide in the production of science in the field of traditional medicine, and the remarkable achievement will improve in the coming years, Nafiseh Hosseini Yekta, the director of the health ministry’s Persian medicine office, has announced.

Over 17,000 books have so far been published about Persian traditional medicine, which has been recognized by the World Health Organization, she noted.

Iranian traditional medicine strongly focuses on prioritizing health maintenance and disease prevention over treatment.

It is one of the most ancient forms of traditional medicine. It is grounded in the concept of four senses of humor: phlegm (Balgham), blood (Dam), yellow bile (Safra'), and black bile (Sauda'). The concept of the four senses of humor is based on the teachings of Rhazes and Avicenna in an elaborate medical system.

So far, about 30,000 plant species have been identified in the world, with Iran's share of about 8,000 species which is more than the whole of species found in Europe.

The per capita consumption of medicinal plants in Iran is about one kilogram of dried plants, in other words, 83,000 tons of medicinal plants worth 1.2 trillion rials (around $3 million) are consumed in the country, while in Europe this amount is 900 grams and in the United States is 2.5 kilograms.

Over 7,000 knowledge-based and 1,600 creative companies have so far been registered and started operations.

The fields of biotechnology, agriculture, food industries, chemical technologies aircraft maintenance, steel, gas, pharmaceuticals, medical equipment and medicine, oil, electronics and telecommunications, information technology, and computer software are among the sectors in which researchers in technology companies are working.

MG