Special Edition: Botanicals

Sami-Sabinsa Group to fund reforestation of Pterocarpus marsupium in India

By Adi Menayang

- Last updated on GMT

Pterocarpus marsupium tree. Photo: A. J. T. Johnsingh, WWF-India and NCF / Wikimedia Commons
Pterocarpus marsupium tree. Photo: A. J. T. Johnsingh, WWF-India and NCF / Wikimedia Commons
Sabinsa announced that it is funding a 10-year reforestation project of Pterocarpus marsupium, commonly known as Indian kino, a tree used for the company's branded extracts. Silbinol and pTerosol.

The plan will ensure that 250 acres in the Seoni and Balaghat regions in Madhya Pradesh, India, will be dedicated to over 166,600 Indian kino trees, which has been declared ‘near threatened’​ on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species​.

According to the company, this is the first attempt to conserve “this high value threatened tree species in India.”

Under the new initiative, the forest department of the state of Madhya Pradesh will provide land, while reforestation organization Madhya Pradesh Rajya Van Vikas Nigam Limited will manage cultivation and maintaining of the plants for at least five years. After this period, the trees are self-sustaining.

Pics (2)
From left: Mr. Ravi Srivastava, MD, MP Forest Development Corporation and PCCF, Madhya Pradesh; Mr. VG Nair, CEO, Sami Labs; Dr. Arvind Saklani, VP, Agri Biotechnology, Sami Labs; Mr. B.P.S. Parihar, regional chief general manager; Mr. Atul Jain, additional PCCF and AMD; Mr. Bharat Sharma, regional chief general manager, MP Forest Development Center

Tree’s use for functional benefits

The tree has been used in South Asia’s Ayurvedic tradition as a medicine to control blood sugar by drinking a water extract of Indian kino, obtained either by soaking pieces of the wood in water overnight or utilizing a tumbler carved from that wood filled with water.

Sabinsa’s parent company Sami Labs Limited has invested in research to explore the plant’s functional health benefits. Most recently, the company funded a rat-model study​ published in the Journal of Dietary Supplements ​supporting the extract’s blood sugar management properties.

 “As our research on Pterocarpus marsupium extract confirmed traditional usage and we began to anticipate future demand for the extract, we became concerned that demand could quickly decimate available supplies,”​ said Shaheen Majeed, Sabinsa’s worldwide president.

“The cultivation will not only help us have a sustainable supply, but will preserve this traditional plant in India.”

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