The Selection and Development of High-quality Echinacea for Industrial Processing

Abstract

Echinacea is one of the oldest medicinal plants that had been used by the native Indians of North America for bacterial and viral ailments. With the increasing scientific findings about the usefulness of Echinacea in natural immune stimulation of humans, the demand for high-quality echinacea product in natural food markets in the United States and Europe has been growing. However, most of the commercial supply of echinacea originates either from heterogeneous material or wild collections. Trout Lake Farm in Washington State is the leader in production and processing of echinacea. The objective of this investigation was to find and develop high-quality echinacea lines or cultivar for commercial biological production and processing. The variation in morphological traits, ripening period, the root and shoot yields, resistance to diseases and insects, and the content of active substances (cichoric acid, echinacoside, isobutylamides, and essential oil) in E. purpurea was carried out during the 1996 growing season. We found dramatic variations in plant height, color and size of the leaves, flowers and period of flower induction, yield, and the accumulation of the active substances.