Plant extracts refers to substances extracted or processed from plants (all or part of plants) with appropriate solvents or methods. They can be used in pharmaceutical industry, food industry, daily chemical industry and other industries.
There is a conceptual intersection between plant extracts and Chinese herbal extracts. The raw materials of plant extracts in China mainly come from Chinese herbal medicine. Therefore, domestic plant extracts can also be called traditional Chinese medicine extracts to some extent. They are generally included in the category of traditional Chinese medicine products in China's export trade statistics.
Development History
China's plant extracts come from the traditional Chinese medicine industry, and the overall development time is relatively late. In the 1970s, some Chinese herbal medicine factories began to use mechanical equipment to extract active ingredients, but only as part of production, plant extracts have not been produced on a large scale. Until the 1990s, the international trend of returning to nature rose, and people began to tend to use natural plant products. During this period, China's foreign trade rose, and China's Plant Extract industry was getting better and better. In the 21st century, with the application of more advanced extraction methods such as enzymatic extraction, ultrasound, supercritical extraction, membrane separation technology and microwave extraction technology, the yield of extract has been greatly improved, and China's plant extract industry has entered a golden period of development. From 2010 to 2015, the production capacity and export volume of plant extracts increased steadily and rapidly every year, and the proportion of plant extracts in the export of traditional Chinese medicine also increased a lot. Since 2016, the market situation of plant extracts has changed.
Classification
1. According to the content of active ingredients, it can be divided into three categories: effective monomer extract, standard extract and ratio extract; 2. It is divided into glycosides, acids, polyphenols, polysaccharides, terpenes, flavonoids, alkaloids, etc; 3. According to the product form, it can be divided into vegetable oil, extract, powder, lens, etc. 4. According to the purpose, plant extracts can be divided into natural pigment products, traditional Chinese medicine extract products, extract products and concentrated products. Application The application scope of plant extracts has been very wide nowadays. In addition to traditional Chinese medicine products, with the gradual increase of people's trust and dependence on natural products, a large part of plant extracts have been used in health products and food ingredients. In addition, plant extracts have been used in cosmetics and feed in recent years. Some of the best-selling plant extracts in the world have several classifications. For example, Rhodiola, ginkgo, Ginseng Extract, etc. are used in the fields of brain strengthening, intelligence, prevention and treatment of Alzheimer's disease; Green tea, Fructus aurantii Immaturus, apple and bitter melon polypeptide extract are applied to reduce weight, reduce blood sugar and prevent diabetes. Paclitaxel, tea polyphenols, theanine, bioflavonoids such as lycopene and Anthocyanin are used in the field of natural anti-cancer; Licorice, garlic, Astragalus membranaceus and soybean extracts are used in the field of human immune system.
