Abstract

NAKAYAMA, Héctor David; SAMUDIO OGGERO, Antonio; TALAVERA, Tania  and  ARMOA, Raquel. Medicinal and aromatic plants. The challenge of taking advantage of its by-products in the San Pedro department. 2021. Poblac.Desarro. [online]. 2022, vol.28, n.54, pp.16-25. ISSN 2076-054X.  https://doi.org/10.18004/pdfce/2076-054x/2022.028.54.016.

Medicinal and aromatic plants are part of the Latin American culture, ethnobotanical knowledge inherited by our ancestors. Medicinal plants play a preventive, palliative or curative role. Whole plants or specific parts of plants can be used for medicinal purposes and alternatively, they can be used as raw material in the pharmaceutical industry. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that more than 80% of the world's population regularly uses traditional medicines to meet primary health needs. Given the diversity of medicinal plants and the diversity of the ecological environments in which they grow, the production of these plants tends to be very complex, which is why most of their suppliers use the extractive system instead of producing them on plots and properly prepared fields. Some species are well domesticated and there are very efficient production systems, constituting an important commercial item. In Paraguay, the production and commerce of this item exceed 50.000 tons per year, contributing to the national Gross Domestic Product with an export of more than 3,000,000 US dollars per year. The production and management of medicinal and aromatic plants annually generates tons of waste that are wasted, even constituting a problem for their final disposal. The objective of the research was to describe different alternatives for the use of residues from the production of medicinal and aromatic plants in San Pedro and convert them into commodities, to achieve this, an analysis of production and possible solutions was carried out. Alternatives for the use of waste are described and offered, turning them into usable and marketable commodities.

Keywords : Medicinal and aromatic plants; by-products; Cooperativa La Norteña.

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