The cultivation of medicinal and aromatic plants in Romania

Abstract

Scientific research regarding medicinal plants started first in Cluj, where the Research Station for Medicinal Plants was first organized in Europe (1904). Research in this field was continued after 1930 by the staff of the Agronomy Researh Institute of Romania (ICAR). Beginning with 1975 the national research programme regarding the medicinal plants is coordinated by the Research Station for Medicinal and Aromatic Plants -SCPMA - Fundulea. Studies are performed in the experimental fields and in the laboratories of this institute and different other research stations and universities in Romania. Beginning with 1979, a new specialized periodical - Herba Romanica - published the main results in the field. At present there are cultivated in Romania about 60 different medicinal and aromatic plant species. Recently a tendency emerged toward the concentration of the production to the most suitable regions and the specialization of different farms for the cultivation of a more restricted number of species. In the second part of the paper the species studied and/or cultivated in the experimental fields of the Agronomy Institute Cluj-Napoca are presented with a chronological list of papers published by the stuff in the period 1975-1984.