East Windsor, NJ –The Sami-Sabinsa Group has long been involved with sustainable agricultural practices. As stewards of traditional Indian herbs, the company wants to ensure that the highly valued but neglected Pterocarpus Marsupium (vijaysar) tree series continues to survive. Pterocarpus marsupium extracts from the Indian Kino tree have been linked to the control of blood sugar in Ayurveda for centuries, the company says.
As a result, the company has committed to funding a ten-year reforestation program for more than 150,000 trees on 250 acres in Madhya Pradesh, India. The reforestation organization Madhya Pradesh Rajya Van Vikas Nigam Limited will manage the cultivation.
This is the first attempt to conserve this particular species of tree, company officials say.
Under this initiative, the land will be provided by the forest department of the state of Madhya Pradesh, with the Madhya Pradesh Rajya Van Vikas Nigam performing the cultivation and maintaining the plants for a minimum period of five years. After five years the trees are self-sustaining.
The traditional Ayurvedic method of controlling diabetes involved drinking a water extract of Pterocarpus obtained either by soaking pieces of the wood in water overnight or using a tumbler carved from that wood filled with water, company officials say.
“As our research onPterocarpus marsupiumextract confirmed traditional usage and we began to anticipate future demand for the extract, we became concerned that demand could quickly decimate available supplies,” said Shaheen Majeed, Sabinsa’s worldwide president. “The cultivation will not only help us have a sustainable supply, but will preserve this traditional plant in India.”
Sabinsa’s proprietary ingredient extracts obtained from Pterocarpus marsupium are sold under the brand names Silbinol and pTeroSol.
In a recent published study in theJournal of Dietary Supplements,researchers found that Pterocarpus marsupium extracts manufactured by Sami Labs (the manufacturing arm of Sabinsa Corporation) lowered blood glucose and HbA1c levels, increasing the levels of the hormone insulin in diabetic rats, as WholeFoodsreported.
