Selected non-timber forest products with medicinal applications from Jilin Province in China

—This paper provides a brief account of the distribution, production, and use of some non-timber forest products such as medicinal plants, medicinal and nutraceutical mushrooms, pharmaceutical insects, and “wild” vegetables in Jilin Province, China. All materials featured in this paper are used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) inside and outside of China. Given the similarities in environmental conditions between Saskatchewan and Jilin, the information provided herein may be used in assessing the potential of Saskatchewan wild plants for similar developments in the Canadian prairies. Saskatchewan and the Province of Jilin, China, signed a twinning agreement on collaboration in agriculture research in 1984, which was extended in 1995 to include traditional medicine component. Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food and the University of Saskatchewan are attempting to evaluate production and harvesting potential of Saskatchewan native plants, as well as other herbs, for developments into economically viable crops in the province. The establishment of the Herb Research Program in 1994 was an important step in this process. Collaboration with experts from countries with a long tradition in herbal medicine, such as China, is considered invaluable in advancing herb research and industry development in Saskatchewan, particularly in the area of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), which is being increasingly accepted in North America. In China, many of natural medicinal and nutraceutical materials could be classified as non-timber forest products, since they are either collected from forested areas or cultivated under conditions that closely simulate forest environment. Jilin Province is located in the central part of Northeast China, has a territory of 187,400 square kilometers, and a population of 25 million (Department of Agriculture, Jilin Province 1997). Jilin is a major agricultural province and one of grain baskets of China. It is surrounded by mountains in the east, plains in the center, and grasslands in the west. It has a continental monsoon climate, four distinct seasons, and abundant rainfall. Jilin is one of the six major forest regions in China. It has 7.9 million hectares of forest plantations and is the third largest in the country (Jilin Province Leading Group of Foreign Capital Utilization Office, Foreign Investment Administration & Service Center 1997). It has the country’s highest production of ginseng. Of 2,700 species of wild plants, 900 species are medicinal herbs and 80 species are medicinal and nutraceutical mushrooms. Most of them grow in the forested areas. For example, Ganoderma lucidum (Ling Zhi), Gastrodia elata (Tian Ma), Astragali radix (Huang Qi), and evening primrose are well known throughout the world, while Hedgehog hydnum (Hou Tou) is very popular in China. It is well established that tradition of using herbal medicine goes back thousands of years in China. China is one of the largest medicinal herb material markets in the world, and forest area in Jilin Province is one of the most important production bases for medicinal herb material in China. For that reason, a unique 1 Postdoctoral Fellow, Herb Research Program, Department of Plant Sciences, University of Saskatchewan, Canada, and Professor of College of Chinese Medicinal Materials, Jilin Agricultural University, China. 2 Program Leader, Herb Research Program, Department of Plant Sciences, University of Saskatchewan, Canada. 3 Northern Products Specialist, Sustainable Production Branch, Saskatchewan Agriculture