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| Sunday, 9 May 2004 |
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Features |  |
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"Cup that cheers" becomes "cup that cures" It's boom time for the enterprising makers of indigenous herbal teas. Kaminie Jayanthi Liyanage hunts them down from the by-lanes of Pettah, to their factories in remote places.
Stopping at a wayside hotel close to Wadduwa, we were pleasantly surprised to find an advertisement for morning native herbal drinks pasted on the cashier's counter. What intrigued us was the fact that besides the usual ranawara, polpala and iramusu, it also advertised medicinal drinks such as neeramulliya and kothalahimbutu. Drinking neeramulliya is a native remedy to get rid of kidney stones while kothalahimbutu is associated with properties to lower blood sugar levels. "Can we have a glass each?", we asked the mudalali, expecting to be presented with kola kenda, and were fascinated by his reply, "No, No, nona, these herbs come in herbal tea bags. In the mornings, we have both local and foreign travellers coming here to have a herbal drink. Today we are out of stock and you'll have to wait for the next lot!"
Bitten by the herbal bug, we scanned the internet to discover over a dozen local exporters, including industry giants such as Hettigoda Industries, sporting web sites of pure herbal teas in filter bags, containing curative properties. The special herbal formulations, prepared from herbs, wild harvested with no contamination and shade dried under room temperature, formed prescriptions of ancient Ola manuscripts and offered therapeutic properties for relief from urine problems, diabetes, gastric disorders, impotency, insomnia, stones in the kidney, food poisoning, hepatitis, rheumatism, weight problems, cold, cough, influenza, bronchitis, constipation, menopause, arthritis.... A seemingly endless list. The modern Sri Lankan version of alternative medicine seemed to be the native potions of the "Veda Mahattaya" speeded up in the "straight from the shelf", instantly dissolved, format to adapt to needs of the information age.
A local producer (he did not wish to be identified) who exported instant herbal mixed teas for a variety of ailments, said, "I do not have a patent for my herbal mixes yet. I have no fear of any other producer guessing the proportions or contents of my mixes. They are mixed to suit the palates of different countries and I know they can't be figured out!" Since he has not received sufficient feed back from his agents, he cannot fully gauge the efficacy of his mixes and admits that "Research needs to be done in this area." It is a pointer to a much required gap in this industry. Unfortunately, none of the exporters seem to market their mixed herbal teas locally. "Go to Gabo's Lane in Pettah and try!," he advised us. "You might find at least the traditional Pas Panguwa (the mix of five herbs drunk to cure cold and cough) in a better form!" Gabo's Lane being a street lined with medicinal herb selling boutiques was news to us and we rushed there. Tempting was the thought of trading the days of raw-boil-and-drink-your-herb for the more refined tea bag era (taken with a bite of jaggery). We had the satisfaction of finding a range of instant herbal tea bags on offer, among the more conservative "pas panguwa" packs and gunny bagsfull of dried herbs of akkapana, kekeri ata and silaj twigs, in the very first boutique we visited. Marketed by a local producer named Ran Osu Enterprises, there were wel penela for heart pains, beli mal for a golden skin and to cool one's body, iramusu for urine troubles and flatulence and neeramulliya and kothalahimbutu. Even the homely brews inguru koththamalli and gotukola were available in tea bag form, offered at Rs. 5 per tea bag and Rs. 120 per card of 24 bags. "Beli mal, ranawara and polpala are sold more," said the shop owner, adding that Ran Osu seemed to be the only local producer supplying instant herbal teas to the local market.
Naturally, our next stop was the work station of Ran Osu Enteprises in the rural environs of Kakkapalliya, Madampe. For its proprietor, Samantha Medis, the idea of the instant herbal tea bag clicked instantly when he saw the affinity between the habit of tea drinking and the fascination with herbs. He and his wife Senani got together with the Agriculture graduate Nishantha Dharmaratne and his wife, Thamara, to form a foursome of herbal tea makers. "We buy purified herbs in bulk from an NGO of farmers, dehydrate the herbs and pack them manually in filter bags," described Samantha, the packing process in a nutshell. "Our herbal teas are 100 per cent natural, with no preservatives whatsoever and last over eight months." The challenge Ran Osu faced, as emphasised by Nishantha, had been to achieve the right moisture levels and the tolerant and beneficial quantity of each herb. "The quantity problem was really related to Kothalahimbutu. If you drink too large a quantity of the herb, your blood sugar levels are bound to fall too low. So we had to get the right quantity which should go in a tea bag." An unusual item is the tea bag of karapincha, which is said to be endowed with properties to lower cholesterol levels. There is also a "dasa panguwa" (ten herbs), called jeewaka, instead of the traditional pas panguwa. "This has better curative value than the pas panguwa for cough and cold, as in addition to the usual pathpadagama, katuwelbatu, koththamalli, thippili and inguru, it also contains ela batu roots, batu roots and asamodagam," explained Samantha. "Herbal tea" is a blending of ranawara, iramusu, belimal and other herbs, to be drunk in place of tea, with jaggery. Their "medicinal betel munch" comes in a pack, sans chunam and tobacco, and "does not stain your teeth or make you feel drugged," says its makers. Operating with the principle of offering something "natural" to the now mostly "readymade" market environment, Ran Osu seeks export possibilities with an eye on West Germany which they say is the best market in the world for Ayurvedic medicines. "Being pioneers in this type of,instant herbal beverage, we are very concerned about our quality and will soon apply for the certification of the Sri Lanka Standards Institution," Samantha said. He confirmed that Ran Osu herbals were produced with the consultation of an Ayurvedic physician. Looking at the expanding world market in medicinal herbal blended teas, it is said to be confronted with certain restrictions on labelling from the food development authorities with regard to its therapeutic claims. Language on the label is supposed to be the key to satisfying the legal requirements and marketing of elixir drinks successfully. "As herbal medicine itself spins off into its own universe of power and prestige, it becomes the consumers interpretation and responsibility in using these 'pharmaceutical botanicals' that will make the way to less significant limitations on commercial formulae," remarks an international writer who comments on the medicinal value of teas. Such hebal teas depend on a constant injecting of consumer surveys and research to weed out possible irritants or side reactions, and come close to be a perfect elixir drink. ***** Classification of herbal beverages At present, herbal beverages occupy a hazy area as they elude classification as food or drugs or indigenous medicine. "This issue is now being discussed by the technical sub committee of the Food Advisory Committee established under the Food Act No. 26 of 1980," says Dr. Manil Fernando, Deputy Director-General - Public Health Services, Ministry of Health. He also comments that as long as any new herbal beverage coming into the market satisfies the requirement to disclose its contents and adhere to the labelling regulations, etc., there is no other approval procedure enforced by the health authorities to bar its market entry. But, if the herbal beverage is labelled as a medicine, then it becomes a product to be dealt with by the Cosmetic Devices and Drugs Act. |
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