Goldenseal, Germplasm Improvement through Micropropagation

One problem that exists for manufacturers producing standardized medicinal plant products is variability of raw material. Most medicinal plant products are produced from material which has been collected from the wild resulting in a wide range of bioactive ingredient content. Increasing demand for these products has resulted in some of the more effective plants, including Hydrastis canadensis (goldenseal) being overcollected from the wild to the point of being declared endangered or threatened. Science based agricultural production systems for these plants offer logical solutions to these problems while at the same time, presenting opportunities for small farms to enhance efficiency and profitability by producing them as crops. Obstacles exist that impede development of this opportunity. Lack of production information combined with often low quality seed and planting stock make many medicinal plant ventures risky at best. Progress has been made in the area of production and harvesting information for goldenseal but development of efficient methods of plantation establishment and high alkaloid yielding cultivars are areas still requiring work. This project is a partnership between Sleepy Hollow Farm and Clemson University to address this gap obstructing efficient production of goldenseal through the micropropagation of high quality goldenseal planting stock selected from our cultivated plantation.