Improving the Overall Quality of Medicinal Crops Following GACP's and Focusing on PostHarvesting Handling Techniques Relating to cGMP's

The primary focus for crops cultivated for the medicinal industry in the past was on increasing biomass production. However there is a growing need to improve marker constituent levels and overall quality in raw materials to comply with the newly released cGMP's. Adhering to GACP's and techniques such as selective breeding, specific cultural techniques and post harvest handling practices that influence and effect the development of crop, we can increase the overall quality of the botanical raw materials. Although the new cGMP's do not directly address many of the raw material suppliers, i.e. growers and collectors, what these suppliers do is important to their customers who must followed cGMP's. Providing raw material of improved quality by following the GACP guidelines resulting in raw materials that complies with the cGMP's also increases the market value of the crops. I will show and give examples how these techniques impact the plants during their growth cycles, harvesting and specifically during the post harvest handling process. Our findings prove that with proper monitoring and management, the dollar per pound value of the raw material can be enhanced resulting in better returns for the farmer/grower, and increased quality of the botanical raw materials for medicinal products in today's market. The cGMP's will be considered a threshold of quality in future years.