The collection of medicinal, aromatic and spice plants

The collection of medicinal, aromatic and spicy plants

     The Institute owns a collection of medicinal, aromatic and spice plants located in the Production Sector in Pancevo. It has preserved and maintained a large number of different populations, both domestic and foreign varieties, since long ago in 1956, when it was founded. Today, it includes over a hundred medicinal, aromatic and spice plants.

Picture. Educational student visit to the collection of medicinal, aromatic and spice plants in Pančevo.

     The collection of plants represents one of the ways of preserving the genetic resources of medicinal, aromatic and spicy plants outside the natural habitat (ex situ conservation). The largest number of species kept in the institute's collection in Pancevo have specimens deposited in the institute's Herbarium (Voucher collection IMPR Herbarium). Its practical importance is reflected in the education and promotion of the cultivation of medicinal, aromatic and spicy plants, which is provided to various subjects of society.

One of the traditional activities related to the Collection are educational visits by students of pharmaceutical, medical and agricultural faculties from the country, which traditionally take place during the month of May, when the Institute also has a camomile harvest campaign, so the students really have a lot to see.

Picture. Visit to the Collection of Plants at the Institute, a participant in the Scientific and Professional Meeting "Open Days of Biodiversity".

     In cooperation with various business entities from the country, OPIR researchers have been involved in the past decade in the in situ collection of medicinal, aromatic and spicy plant species in different geographical locations in Serbia.

     The importance of the collections for the scientific-research work of the Institute's agronomists is also reflected in the setting of various scientific-research experiments related to the preservation and maintenance of imported plants and the introduction of new species, which are most often included in scientific and other projects financed by the relevant Ministries of the Republic of Serbia.

Image. Collection of medicinal, aromatic and spice plants in Pančevo.