What is Materia Medica?
Materia Medica is a Latin term defining a historical collection of knowledge for the therapeutic properties of any plant or substance known for its healing properties.
About Us
Materia Medica (Pty) Ltd. works closely with its clients to develop herbal products with evidence based efficacy to support desired claims. As a team of scientists, we adhere to the strictest level of confidentiality and pride ourselves on our integrity. Integrity for both clients and products developed. We work with clients from the initial stages of a brief, assisting with the correct choice of botanical actives to ensure the success of the final product. These include selection of plant part used, standardised extracts, correct concentrate identification, the method of analysing chemical constituents, the processing and purity of the extract and the final formulation. All these factors need to be taken into consideration when selecting active constituents for an effective product.
South African Complementary and Alternative Medicines (CAM's)
Southern Africa has been recorded to have well over 30,000 species of higher plants. With this diverse biodiversity, it is not surprising to find that an estimated 80% of the population rely on traditional medicine as a form of primary health care. It has been documented that approximately 3,000 species of plants are used as medicines in South Africa.This been said, it is not surprising that South Africa has a multi-billion Rand Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) market. Sadly, a large number of the claims associated with these products are based on non-existent evidence and dubious misconceptions.
The Medicines Control Council (MCC) regulates the sale of medicinal plants in South Africa. They are a statutory body that regulates the performance of clinical trials and registration of medicines and medical devices for use in specific diseases. The MCC is responsible to ensure that all clinical trials of both non-registered medicines and new indications of registered medicines comply with the necessary requirements for safety, quality and efficacy. Go to top of page