Production of Pilot Scale standard Extract of St John’s Wort in Iran

Head of the Department of Organic and Pharmaceutical Industry of Iranian Research Organization for Science and Technology announced that the researchers of this organization have succeeded in producing standard extract of St John’s wort in pilot scale.

Khorasan: Some studies by Researchers of Iranian Research Organization for Science and Technology enabled them to produce standard extract of St John’s wort in pilot scale investigation. The extract of this flower has antidepressant, antimicrobial, antiviral, anti-inflammatory properties as well as inducing sedation and acting as a healer.

Shohreh Safarzadeh Matin, Head of Department of Organic and Pharmaceutical Industry of Iranian Research Organization for Science and Technology added, “St John’s wort is a plant that has a variety of species in the world. It is grown wild on mountain slopes of Alborz, Chaloos, Mazandaran, and in the west part of Iran.” The holder of technology science Doctorate continued to say, ” The alcoholic extract of the aerial part of this plant, which is the flower itself, has been registered as a herbal medicine.”

Two pharmaceutical products have been made with this plant, one in the form of pill and the other drop, both of which are used as antidepressants. She added, “we managed to produce the standard extract of this plant with the financial support of Vice-Presidency for Science and Technology.”

By customization of technical knowledge of the extract provision, it is now more beneficial to produce that inside the country. Dr. Safarzadeh mentioned that the extract of St John’s wort has been produced in pilot scale and said, “This extract is completely in accordance with global standards in terms of effective material and conditions of preparation.” In the traditional extraction methods, it is possible that during the process, this product would be contaminated by microbes or due to the temperature conditions of providing the extract, the effective material would be lost.

She emphasized that, “Plenty of medicinal plants can grow in Iran, due to its climatic variation. However, in a large extent, these plants are dried up and exported to European countries, they then extract the effective materials of these plants, standardize and formulate them and sell them back to us with many times more than the original price. Therefore, if we can use these blessings in the best way possible, and standardize them, these products have the potential to be globalized.”