Adaptability of Chinese Medicinals for American Growers

The increasing market demand for Chinese medicinals in the United States is currently being met by imports.  Consistency of chemical profiles and available supplies of imported plant species as either dry or derived products is an occasional problem with Chinese herbs.  Domestic production of Chinese herbs within the U.S. using good agricultural practices could most likely improve composition and biological activity of commercially available Chinese herbal products and provide new cash crops for US growers.  Studies underway in Mississippi, New York, and Massachusetts to provide for economical and environmental sustainable production systems for Chinese medicinal herbs are being conducted.  Field trials with Scutellaria baicalensis L., Artemisia annua L., Forsythia suspensa (Thunb.) Vahl, and Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge are underway.  Initial trials with Scutellaria baicalensis plantings produced good yields with a desirable range of baicalin and baicalein.  All tested species appear adaptable to American fields located in the Southeast and Northeast and can be produced under organic growing conditions.