GCRF-BBR: West African bioactive plant products: pipeline for maximising potential

Plant products are used traditionally for a huge range of applications, including as insect repellents and insecticides, bird, snake and rodent repellents, natural remedies, tanning agents, food preservatives, cosmetics, fertilizers, herbicides, detergents, paints and dyes. This is especially true in Ghana and other West African countries, where the biodiversity of the forest ecosystems represents a valuable natural resource that has potential to support economic and social development of the region. Ghanaian researchers at the University of Cape Coast (UCC) and the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) are at the forefront of research into West African traditional plant products but international collaboration is essential to maximise the potential of these undoubtedly useful resources. We have worked closely with academics and regulators in Ghana to identify that a major barrier to effective international collaboration is the absence of coordinated infrastructure to collate and distribute materials and information. This proposal will provide such infrastructure. This will enable researchers at KNUST and UCC to establish a sustainable repository of active plant materials in parallel with a web-based, user compiled database of knowledge and information about useful plant species. The global research community will be able to search for information and request samples to stimulate international collaborations and speed up the development of traditional plant products for the benefit of local communities and beyond.

It will clearly be important to accurately identify the species of the plants used. This is often difficult, as plant products are typically processed before use, for example by drying or grinding. We propose to train Ghanaian researchers in DNA identification protocols, and establish this capacity in Ghana for use by academics and regulators in the region and beyond.

Traditional uses of plants in Ghana can address many of the population's needs but socioeconomic development is hindered by the lack of coordinated infrastructure supporting research, knowledge transfer and sharing of materials. Researchers at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), and the University of Cape Coast (UCC), are currently investigating the utility of West African plant products for a range of applications including as insect repellents and insecticides, piscicides, bird, snake and rodent repellents, therapeutics, tanning agents, food preservatives, cosmetics, fertilizers, herbicides, surfactants, paints and dyes. However, international collaborations are required to properly examine the efficacy, safety and utility of these products; in particular for the identification of active compounds and the molecular and cellular characterisation of mechanisms.

Currently no systematic resource exists for the collection, storage and distribution of information and active materials to support international collaborations for investigating and developing plant materials as sustainable solutions to the needs of developing countries. We propose to support researchers at KNUST and UCC to establish infrastructure to collect, store and distribute information and active plant materials to the global research community. This will include training Ghanaian researchers in Bar-HRM protocols for the DNA based identification of processed (e.g. dried and ground) plant materials.

In this way, Ghanaian researchers will be positioned centrally in a resource that will support local and international bioscience research into the sustainable use of plant-derived materials for a diverse range of applications.

The short term impact from this GCRF highlight pump priming project will be for bioscience researchers in Ghana and their international collaborators. The resource we are proposing will systematically store materials and information relating to West African plant products with diverse potential applications, and make them available to support collaborative research. However, we anticipate that the longer term impacts will be much broader, being based on the collaborative research enabled by the pump priming initiative. We enlisted the involvement of Ghanaian academics and regulators from the early development stages of this proposal to give us confidence that we are addressing genuine local development needs. This project is to establish a resource, not to generate research data at this stage, however, the follow-on projects building on this resource will investigate the safety, efficacy and utility of traditionally used plant materials, and it is from these projects that we anticipate significant socioeconomic impact.

The safety of traditionally used plant materials will be tested, with implications for public health. The efficacy of plant materials will be investigated, offering quality assurances for consumers and producers. As part of this project, protocols for the identification of processed plant materials will be developed, offering assurances against counterfeit or substituted products. FDA-Ghana, who have responsibility for regulating plant materials in Ghana, have confirmed their conviction that these measures would have impact for them and, consequently, the general population (see letter of support attached). Importantly, these measures would facilitate the commercial development of plant materials, particularly for an international market, but will ensure that Ghanaian researchers and regulators maintain central roles. The Ghanaian economy is facing stresses from a recent reliance on a small number of natural resources (notably oil, gold and cocoa). By raising awareness of the potential socioeconomic benefits of West African flora, the value of a more diverse portfolio will be evident, and also the importance of protecting the ecosystems that could hold the key to future wealth.

Plant research at KNUST and UCC has been commercially developed at the regional level (e.g. GT African Trading; Angel Herbal Products; GML Natural), leading to numerous employment opportunities across the country. However, international involvement is required to maximise the potential for global impact. Therefore, the main long term aim of this project is to make it as straightforward as possible for the international research community to work with Ghanaian researchers to use plant materials to address issues that directly affect West African society.