By
Jeremy Duda
Arizona Daily Wildcat
A UA student's research of a soil-free method for growing rooted vegetables may allow for increased cultivation of medicinal herbs.
Anita Hayden, a doctoral student in the UA Office of Arid Land Studies, has been studying aeroponics, an alternative growing method, since 1996. With partner Guillermo Quiroga, she co-founded a company, Native American Botanicals, which has continued research with the intention of growing more herbs used in medicine and healing.
"The technology has been around for a while, but it wasn't economically feasible until we found a crop of high value," Hayden said.
Aeroponically-grown herbs are grown outside of soil, with seedlings suspended over an enclosed chamber where nutrient-fortified water is sprayed on the roots. This allows the plant to grow without adulteration by soil pathogens, insects or other plant roots.
If the method is successful, many medicinal herbs currently in use could become more readily available, said Quiroga, president and CEO of Native American Botanicals.
"We can control the environment of the plant and, therefore, tweak the growing process," Quiroga said.
The process allows plants to be grown year-round and often produces a higher yield than normal greenhouse growing, Quiroga said.
Eventually, Hayden said, this high volume of aeroponically-grown vegetation should reduce environmental variation to improve uniformity of plant material.
American Indian tribes treat a variety of ailments with medicinal herbs, as do other cultures around the globe, Quiroga said. Some of the more popular herbs in use are ginseng, black cohosh and echinacea.
"Herbal medicines have been used for centuries, and they've worked," said Quiroga, a member of the Pascua Yaqui tribe.
The medicinal herb industry brings in between $4 billion and $10 billion dollars annually, with some of the herbs selling for $100 per pound - as opposed to other agricultural yields, such as tomatoes, which go for about $3 per pound, Hayden said.
Many tribes are interested in this new method as a tool for economic development. Both the Cherokee tribe in Oklahoma and the Pascua Yaqui have been educated on aeroponics. There is even an office for Hayden and Quiroga's company on the Pascua Yaqui reservation just outside of Tucson.
Hayden and Quiroga started Native American Botanicals in 1997 as a project for the University of Arizona business college while Quiroga was also a UA student. Quiroga manages and operates the company, while Hayden does research and development.
That research has earned the pair three federal grants, including one for aeroponics from the National Institute of Health's Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. The other two are from the United States Department of Agriculture and are for marketing and community development.
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Additional information can found at http://ag.arizona.edu/OALS/oals/projects.html.
