Lao Cai Artichoke - a precious medicinal plant in Vietnamese traditional medicine

Lao Cai Artichoke is a prominent medicinal plant in traditional medicine, bringing high economic value. Discover the benefits and potential of artichoke in the production of quality traditional medicine.

Lao Cai – a mountainous province in the Northwest region – has long been known as the country’s natural “medicinal warehouse”. Thanks to its temperate climate and diverse soil, this place has favorable conditions for growing many precious medicinal herbs.

According to statistics from authorities and localities, the total area of ​​medicinal plants in the province is currently 4,246 hectares, of which perennial medicinal plants are 3,215 hectares and annual medicinal plants are 1,031 hectares. The output of medicinal plants harvested from the beginning of the year to date has reached 16,650 tons of fresh, including artichoke, tea, Gynostemma pentaphyllum, Chua Du, Amomum, Dao people's medicinal bath plants...

Artichoke growing area seen from above, this field meets GACP-WHO standards.

The area of ​​medicinal plants planted annually is concentrated in the following localities: Bat Xat district 350 ha (chuan khung, van moc huong, doc hoat, dang quy, salvia miltiorrhiza, sam bo chinh, co stevia, ginger purple, ground ginseng...); Sa Pa town 270 ha (artichoke, angelica, perilla, pagoda du, medicinal bath plants...); Bac Ha district 240 ha (artichoke, platycodon, angelica, ginger, turmeric...); Simacai district 165 ha (platycodon, angelica, ginger, atractylodes...); Muong Khuong district 6 ha (ginger purple).

Lao Cai province is one of the two provinces with the largest number of medicinal plants meeting the standards of "Good Agricultural and Collection Practices as recommended by the World Health Organization" (GACP-WHO) in the country, with 13 types of medicinal plants recognized as meeting the standards. Including 50 hectares of artichoke in Sa Pa town; 20,100 hectares of tea in Sa Pa and Bat Xat towns; 19.7 hectares of Platycodon grandiflorum in Bac Ha district; 30 hectares of wild mugwort in Sa Pa town...

Artichoke grown in Sapa has the highest medicinal properties compared to artichoke grown in other regions of the country.

Applying and achieving GACP-WHO certification brings many benefits to both businesses and society. Some basic benefits include: Proactively sourcing medicinal materials; avoiding legal issues; minimizing risks that may arise; controlling the quality of medicinal materials; preserving Vietnam's precious medicinal materials; contributing to solving social security issues; accessing many potential markets and easily identifying and tracing the origin of medicinal materials.

Lao Cai province encourages individuals and organizations to develop medicinal herb growing areas and traditional medicine production in combination with tourism , ensuring both the supply of medicinal herbs and traditional medicine products for medical examination and treatment, and serving tourists to visit and shop for high-quality medicinal herbs and traditional medicine products.

Artichoke "golden tree" in Lao Cai land

Resolution No. 10-NQ/TU dated August 26, 2021 of the Standing Committee of Lao Cai Provincial Party Committee on the Strategy for developing commodity agriculture to 2030, with a vision to 2050, identifies medicinal plants as a key crop in local agricultural development.

Lao Cai focuses on exploiting and developing, linking medicinal products with cultural and tourism services; paying attention to developing tourism associated with OCOP products, creating deeply processed products such as medicinal herbs, traditional medicine, tea bags, concentrated extracts, liquid extracts, dry extracts, etc. suitable for consumer needs and aiming for export.

By the end of 2024, Lao Cai had 163 products recognized as OCOP with 3 stars or more, including many herbal products such as: Sa Pa Artichoke Soft Extract; Cordyceps Capsules; Sa Pa Artichoke Mist Tea; Sa Pa Artichoke Mist Extract; Sa Pa Vine Tea Bags; Sa Pa Gynostemma Tea Bags; Lingzhi Tea Bags; Simacai Panax Notoginseng Tea;... These products have been and are attracting tourists, making gifts for tourists with unique characteristics of Lao Cai.

H'Mong households are cutting artichoke leaves in Sa Pa commune (Sa Pa district, Lao Cai)

Lao Cai province strives to maintain and develop the province's medicinal herb area to about 5,000 hectares by 2030. Develop at least 02 medicinal herb processing and preparation facilities. Build brands for 02-03 medicinal herb products and have 03-05 more medicinal herb products created in association with the program "One Commune One Product". Form 5 groups of medicinal herb products associated with tourism; form at least 5 eco-tourism and experiential tourism spots associated with medicinal herbs in Sa Pa, Bac Ha, Bat Xat, Bao Yen.

In that diverse picture of medicinal plants, Artichoke emerges as the main crop. This plant species is suitable for the year-round cool climate of Sa Pa and Bac Ha, providing stable productivity and high economic efficiency. Currently, the whole province has 157 hectares with 11 medicinal plants recognized to meet GACP - WHO standards, of which Artichoke accounts for a large proportion.

Artichokes are usually planted around July - August of the solar calendar. After 2 - 3 months, people start pruning the leaves for the first time, the next times are about a month apart. On average, an artichoke can yield 7 to 9 harvests of leaves, lasting until May - June of the following year when the plant begins to flower.

Artichokes provide a stable source of income for the people of Sa Pa.

After harvesting, the leaves and flowers of the Artichoke are brought to processing companies and manufactured into many products according to GACP – WHO standards. The most prominent of these are Artichoke mist tea and Sa Pa Artichoke soft extract.

Artichoke Mist Tea is made from fresh leaves, using modern mist drying technology, helping to retain maximum beneficial active ingredients. This product has the effect of detoxifying the liver, lowering blood fat, supporting acne treatment, and brightening the skin.
Soft artichoke extract is commonly used as a folk medicine, supporting the treatment of liver disease, anti-inflammatory, diuretic, improving digestion and gallbladder function.

Not only stopping at the medicinal aspect, Artichoke has also become a specialty brand of Sa Pa, Bac Ha, sought after by many tourists, contributing to promoting the image of the Northwest region.

Linking medicinal development with tourism and culture

Not only a medicinal plant, Artichoke and many other medicinal herbs in Lao Cai are also developed into products associated with tourism and indigenous culture. The most typical is the medicinal bath service of the Red Dao people in Sa Pa, which uses many indigenous medicinal herbs. In addition, some cooperatives also process essential oils and pharmaceutical cosmetics from Artichoke and other indigenous plants.

In many homestays and restaurants, Artichoke has become an ingredient in dishes and drinks served to tourists. These products not only create added value but also widely promote the Lao Cai medicinal herb brand outside the province and internationally.

Thanks to this approach, medicinal plants are not only limited to agriculture but also become a bridge between production - processing - trade - services, contributing to the formation of a closed value chain.

Four-way connection – the key to sustainable development

To develop medicinal plants in general and Artichoke in particular, Lao Cai pays special attention to building a "four-house" connection: the State, farmers, scientists and businesses.

The State plays a role in guiding, issuing policies, and providing capital and technical support.
Scientists research and transfer planting, care and processing processes according to international standards.
Enterprises stand up to purchase products, build brands, and expand consumer markets.
Farmers are the direct force in cultivating, preserving and developing raw material areas.

This approach helps limit fragmented and spontaneous production, while ensuring products meet quality standards and have stable output. This is also an important premise for Lao Cai medicinal herbs in particular and Vietnam in general to deeply integrate with the world pharmaceutical market.

In the coming time, the province will continue to plan to expand the area of ​​​​Artichoke and some other key medicinal plants. At the same time, Lao Cai encourages businesses to invest in deep processing technology, creating high-value products, meeting the increasingly demanding tastes of domestic and foreign consumers.

From the hills of Sa Pa and Bac Ha, the Artichoke plant has been contributing to the Lao Cai medicinal herbs brand, becoming the pride not only of the locality but also of the whole country. With the right direction, linking production with international standards and a closed value chain, Lao Cai Artichoke promises to continue to be the "golden tree" that brings sustainable livelihoods to ethnic minorities, while raising the brand of Vietnamese medicinal herbs.

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Source: https://baolaocai.vn/actiso-lao-cai-cay-duoc-lieu-quy-trong-y-hoc-co-truyen-viet-nam-post881832.html