Twists, turns and trade: A new look at the Indian Screw tree (Helicteres isora)

Author’s Accepted Manuscript Twists, turns and trade: a new look at the Indian Screw tree (Helicteres isora) A.B. Cunningham, W. Ingram, J.A. Brinckmann, M. Nesbitt www.elsevier.com/locate/jep

PII: DOI: Reference:

S0378-8741(17)33886-2 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2018.06.032 JEP11421

To appear in: Journal of Ethnopharmacology Received date: 28 December 2017 Revised date: 28 March 2018 Accepted date: 22 June 2018 Cite this article as: A.B. Cunningham, W. Ingram, J.A. Brinckmann and M. Nesbitt, Twists, turns and trade: a new look at the Indian Screw tree ( Helicteres isora), Journal of Ethnopharmacology, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2018.06.032 This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting galley proof before it is published in its final citable form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain.

Twists, turns and trade: a new look at the Indian Screw tree (Helicteres isora).

A. B. Cunninghama,b*, W. Ingramc, J. A. Brinckmannd, M. Nesbitte

a

School of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, King Edward Avenue, Pietermaritzburg, 3209, South Africa School of Veterinary and Life Sciences, Murdoch University, 90 South St., Murdoch WA 6150, Australia c Threads of Life: Indonesian Textiles Arts Centre, Jalan Kajeng 24, Ubud, 80571, Bali, Indonesia. d Traditional Medicinals, 4515 Ross Road, Sebastopol, California 95472, USA e Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, UK. b

*

Corresponding author. [email protected] (A.B. Cunningham)

Abstract Ethnopharmacological relevance This is the first study of global trade in fruits of the widely used traditional medicine, Helicteres isora L.. It is used in Ayurvedic, Siddha, Unani medical systems and/or local folk traditional medicines in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. The roots are used in Traditional Chinese Medicines in China and the fruits in jamu products in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. In addition, H. isora fruits are also used in "traditional" medical systems far beyond the natural distribition of this species, for example in Zulu herbal medicine (South Africa) and Kurdish herbal medicines (Iraq) Aims of the study This study had three aims: (i) to assess the global trade in H. isora fruits; (ii) to study the H. isora trade from West Timor to Java in terms of actors and prices along the value chain and (iii) to get a better understanding of the potential of this species to improve household income in eastern Indonesia Materials and Methods This study uses historical records, a contemporary analysis of global trade data (2014-2016) and field assessments of value chains and the biological factors influencing H. isora fruit production. Results Globally, the major exporter of H. isora fruits is India, which exports H. isora fruits to 19 countries, far beyond the natural geographical distribution of this species. Over a 36-month period (January 2014 – December 2016), India exported 392 tonnes of H. isora fruits, with a Free-On-Board (FOB) value of Indian rupiah (INR) 18,337,000 (US$ 274,055). This represents an average annual export quantity of about 130,526kg/year. Over this three year period, most of these exports (85.5%) were to Indonesia (346.58 tonnes), followed by Thailand (6.85 %). Indian H. isora exports are also used in many other medical systems, including Kurdish and Zulu “traditional” medicines in Iraq and South Africa. Formation of an Indian diaspora in Bahrain, Mauritius, South Africa, Tanzania and Trinidad and Tobago over the past 130 years is one of the drivers of H. isora fruit trade outside the natural geographic distribution of the species. In Indonesia, demand for H. isora fruits is supplemented by an intra-island trade in Java and an inter-island trade from East Nusa Tenggara. West Timor, for example, exports around 31-37 tonnes of air-dried H. isora fruits per year to Java. At the farm gate, local harvesters in West Timor get 4000 IDR (c. 0.3 US$) per kg, with businesses in Java paying 1

25000 IDR (c.US$2) per kg for H. isora fruits. This is similar to the price paid for H. isora fruits imported from India to Java. Conclusions India is the major exporter of whole dried H. isora fruits, including to countries where this species has never been in traditional use. In Indonesia, H. isora fruit extracts are used in the cosmetic industry as well as in jamu herbal medicines, including “Tolak Angin”, the country's most popular commercial “jamu” preparation. Indonesia also is the major importer of H. isora fruits from India. In eastern Indonesia, improved income to local villagers from the H. isora fruit trade could come from improved H. isora fruit quality due to better drying techniques. This would also reduce health risks along the supply chain from to mycotoxins that have been recorded on poorly dried H. isora fruits. There also is an opportunity for cultivation of H. isora in small-holder teak plantations in Indonesia, with harvest of H. isora fruits as well as the medicinal bark. Abbreviations: ACIAR, Australian Council for International Agricultural Research; DGFT, Directorate General of Foreign Trade; EBC, Economic Botany Collection at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; ENT, East Nusa Tenggara; FOB, Free-on-Board; HS, Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System; IDR, Indonesian rupiah; INR, Indian rupiah; ITC, Indian Trade Classification; TRADESTAT, The Government of India’s Export Import Data Bank; USD, United States dollars.

Keywords: History, value-chains, jamu, international trade, , teak agroforestry systems

1.0 Introduction The Indian Screw tree (Helicteres isora L., Malvaceae) is a shrub occurring in dry deciduous woodlands through tropical and sub-tropical East, South and South-east Asia as far south as monsoonal northern Australia. In the 19th century, H. isora bark was used for making rope and sacks, but was outcompeted by jute (from Corchorus species) as a fibre source (Sebastine, 1954). H. isora wood was also preferentially used to make charcoal for gunpowder manufacture. In addition, the distinctive spirally twisted fruits of H. isora are used in many local herbal traditions, including in Bangladesh (Islam et al., 2015), India (Ayyanar and Ignacimuthu, 2005; Gairola et al., 2013; Kumar et al., 2013), Iraq (Mati and de Boer, 2011), Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia (Brink and Escobin, 2003) and South Africa (Cunningham, 1988; Wojtasik 2013). Nearly 130 years ago, H. isora fruits were described in India as ‘…one of the commonest bazár drugs in most parts of the country.’ (Watt, 1890). Today, H. isora is still commonly traded and is one of India’s 178 herbal medicine species whose trade exceeded 100 tonnes/year (Ved and Goraya, 2008). In India, traditional use of fruits and bark of H. isora is widespread (Ekka, 2011; Gairola et al., 2013; Jadeja et al., 2006; Murthy et al., 2010; Padal et al., 2013; Pandey and Shukla, 2008; Punjani and Kumar, 2002; Pushpakarani and Natarajan, 2014; Sonawane et al., 2012; Swain and Mohapatra, 2013; Wagh et al., 2010; Xavier et al., 2014). H. isora fruits are sold in local marketplaces across India as well as being exported (Soundrapandi and Narasimhan, 2006; Wojtasik, 2013). The pharmacology and chemistry of this species are also well studied, particularly in India, including research on the bioactive compounds of the leaves showed antimicrobial activity (Kumar et al., 2013), as well as antiinflammatory activity of the stem bark (Badgujar et al., 2009), hypolipidaemic effects (Kumar and Murugesan, 2008) and anti-diabetic properties of the bark (Kumar and Singh, 2014) and fruits (Aleykutty and Akhila, 2012; Subramanium et al., 2014). H. isora has also been adopted into trade for “traditional” medical systems far beyond the natural range of this species. In the Kurdish Autonomous Region, Iraq, for example, it is traded in the Qaysari market for use in herbal preparations to treat infant colic (Mati and de 2

Boer, 2011). It has also been widely adopted into African traditional medicine in South Africa (Cunningham, 1988), where Wojtasik’s (2013) study in traditional medicine markets in Johannesburg, South Africa showed that H. isora fruits were the most commonly stocked of all imported herbal medicines across all categories of herbal traders. H. isora fruit extracts also form 10% of the content of Tolak Angin ("expel wind"), a flagship "jamu" herbal product produced by PT Sido Muncul that has been the leading brand in Indonesia Top Brand Index in the health-care and pharma sector between 2014 and 2017 (Kabaressy and Handoyo, 2017 and YouGovBrandIndex, 2017). Despite a long history of trade, this is the first quantitative study have been done on the global trade in H. isora fruits exported from India. H. isora was recorded in Timor over 300 years ago (Rumphius, 1755), yet this is also the first study of H. isora value-chains within Indonesia. One of the reasons for this is that like sandalwood (Santalum album L.) wood, Aquilaria (gaharu) resin impregnated wood, and bird nests (sarang walet) from the swiftlets (Collocalia fuciphagus Thunberg and C. maximus Hume), H. isora fruits are part of a "hidden economy" and are not traded in local marketplaces. Instead, the H. isora trade is largely through Buginese and Chinese-Indonesian trade networks from private premises rather than local informal sector marketplaces (Figure 3a). During a detailed survey of local marketplaces on four islands in East Nusa Tenggara (ENT) in eastern Indonesia, for example, none of the 11428 stalls of informal sector sellers we surveyed (Cunningham et al., 2011) sold the distinctive fruits of H. isora. This study had three aims. Firstly, to understand the H. isora fruit trade historically and in a global context. Secondly, to study the H. isora trade from West Timor to Java, Indonesia in terms of actors along the value chain, prices and the volumes being sold. Thirdly, to get a better understanding of the potential of this species to improve household income in West Timor, in eastern Indonesia.

2.0 Methods The identity of H. isora was confirmed through a voucher specimen collected in West Timor (A. B. Cunningham 7082 RBG). This matches Allan Cunningham’s voucher specimen from Kupang collected almost 200 years ago (Allan Cunningham 326 RBG) that is still in the collection at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (Orchard and Orchard, 2013). Four methods were used in this study. Firstly, we reviewed literature for records of the historical use and trade in H. isora products, supplementing the review with a search through the Economic Botany Collection at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Secondly, global trade data for H. isora were accessed and analyzed for a 36-month period (January 2014 to December 2016). This was complex, as the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), responsible for the Indian Trade Classification (ITC) HS Codes has not assigned a species-specific tariff code for H. isora plant parts. Therefore its export trade could not be quantified using Government of India’s Export Import Data Bank (TRADESTAT). However, export trade data based on export shipment declarations from all major ports in India is gathered and analyzed by a private firm Zauba Technologies & Data Services Private Limited. Because different individual exporters describe the plant using different vernacular names and some using incorrect general tariff codes, several search terms were used in order to capture all declared shipments. Search terms included the Ayurvedic medicine names ‘marodphali’, ‘murukku thippili’ and ‘murudshing’, Tamil and Siddha medicine names ‘valampuri’ and ‘valampurikkai’, Unani medicine name ‘marorphali’, Latin binomial ‘Helicteres isora’, pharmacopoeial name ‘Isorae Fructus’, Sanskrit name ‘avartani’, and variously spelled trade names ‘mardasing’, ‘mardasingh’, and ‘mardasingi’. H. isora is also exported by different companies under five different 8-digit tariff codes. Some of these are clearly incorrect codes for the described shipments, including HS 07089000 (Other: Other leguminous vegetables), HS 12119029 (Other: Leaves, powder, flowers and pods), HS 12119048 (Roots and Rhizomes: Sweet flag rhizomes), HS 12119049 (Other: Roots and rhizomes) and HS 12119099 (Other: Other plants 3

and parts of plants used in perfumery or pharmacy, or for insecticidal/ fungicidal purposes). Thirdly, in order to understand the value chains involved, interviews were conducted in Bahasa Indonesia by WI and WDK with consolidators (“pernampung besar”) buying and drying H. isora fruits in West Timor and shipping them from Kupang to Java. We also visited three businesses in Java that buy H. isora fruits from India and Indonesia, discussing the quality of the H. isora fruits these large commercial enterprises use in relation to H. isora samples we obtained from local villagers in West Timor. Fourthly, we supplemented previous field visits to dry woodlands and medicinal plant markets in South Asia with fieldwork in West Timor, Indonesia in order to understand H. isora fruit production and villagers perspectives on H. isora trade. As our study aimed to gain a better understanding of how income to harvesters might be improved, we also did a rapid field assessment of fruit production biology in West Timor, Indonesia. As part of this process, as several traditional healers in Africa had pointed out that H. isora screw-like fruits can be “threaded” to the left or the right (Figure 3d), we examined a random sample of 252 fruits collected from a trader in Kupang and a smaller sample (68 fruits) from a natural population of H. isora near Bosen, West Timor. 3.0 Results 3.1 Twists and turns: 140 years of change in the H. isora trade There has been a major shift in the international trade in H. isora products over the past 140 years, from bark for fibre in the 19th century to H. isora fruits in the 21st century. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, the commercial focus was the fibrous bark. In India and Indonesia H. isora bark fibre was used to make rope and sacks, but was outcompeted by jute sacking made from Corchorus bark (Brink and Escobin, 2003; Sebastine, 1954). There also was interest in Europe in H. isora bark as a source of fibre for paper making. In 1879, for example, the Indian Forest Department supplied a sample of H. isora bark to Thomas Routledge, the manager of a paper mill in Sunderland, UK (EBC 64951, RBG, Kew). H. isora wood was also preferentially used to make charcoal for gunpowder manufacture and for traditional medicine, but in Travancore, then a princely state in southern India, the principal use until the 1920’s was for kaivun fibre used to make bags for transporting pepper and rice (Sebastine, 1954). The early economic interest in H. isora fibre is evident from 19th samples in the Economic Botany Collection (EBC) at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, supplied from India in 1878 (EBC 64960) and 1891 (EBC 64962) (Figure 1).

Fig 1. Indian specimens of Helicteres isora in the Economic Botany Collection, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. A. H. isora fruits supplied to RBG, Kew by the Indian Forest Department, 1878 (EBC 64954). B. Inner bark fibres (upper) and rope (lower, from Berar. Indian Forest Department, 1878 (EBC 64960). C. Whole bark, from Lohardaga district, Jharkhand. India Office, 1891 (EBC 64962).

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3.2 Global trade in H. isora fruits Over the 36-month period (January 2014 to December 2016) India exported 391,578kg of H. isora with a corresponding customs value (FOB) of INR 18,337,000. This is equivalent to US$ 274,055 total or an average of about US$ 0.70 per kg within the 36-month period of January 2014 to December 2016, based on a currency exchange rate of 1 INR = 0.0149455 USD. Indonesia, followed by Thailand, is the largest importer of H. isora from India, accounting for 85.5% of India’s H. isora fruit exports in terms of volume and nearly 86.3% in terms of reported FOB value (Figure 2, Table 1).

Fig 2. The quantities of H. isora fruits exported from India to other countries over a 36month period (January 2014 to December 2016), showing Indonesia and Thailand as the main importing countries. Smaller import quantities have been rounded off to the nearest 100kg from data in Table 1. Exports for the 3 year period to New Zealand (50kg), Trinidad and Tobago (250kg), the Russian Federation (50kg), the USA (2kg) and Yemen (50kg) are not shown here, but are included in Table 1. The role of an Indian diaspora from the 19th century onwards is likely to have driven expansion of the H. isora trade to Bahrain, Mauritius, South Africa, Tanzania and Trinidad and Tobago. Table 1. The Republic of India’s total export quantities and values sorted by importing country in order of predominance over the 36-month period (January 2014 to December 2016), based on export trade data from Zauba Technologies & Data Services Private Limited (https://www.zauba.com/).

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Importing country

Quantity (kg)

Value (INR)

Republic of Indonesia

346580

15,826,544

Kingdom of Thailand

26830

1469942

Malaysia

6368

369436

Democratic Social Republic of Sri Lanka

2897

244396

Kingdom of Bahrain

2375

175359

People’s Republic of Bangladesh

2000

31992

United Republic of Tanzania

1200

29959

Republic of Iraq

1000

47099

Republic of Singapore

511

17 976

Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

500

32,238

Republic of South Africa

405

24022

Islamic Republic of Pakistan

250

9283

Republic of Mauritius

250

17766

Republic of Trinidad and Tobago

250

12290

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

50

4318

New Zealand

50

3576

Republic of Yemen

50

3683

Russian Federation

10

5972

2

123

United States of America TOTAL

391578

18307998

3.3 Value chains for H. isora and the trade context in West Timor, Indonesia 6

The value chains for H. isora start with wild harvest in seasonally dry woodlands and degraded shrublands in West Timor (Figure 3). Most harvests take place in May-June in areas such as Bena. When harvested, the wet mass of H. isora fruits in West Timor is 465 fruits/kg (extrapolated from a sample of 70.9 g for 33 fruits). After drying, by the time that fruits are ready for packing into bags by large-scale traders consolidating fruits to send to Java, it takes 1620 fruits (air-dry mass) for 1 kg (based on a sample of 124 fruits at 76.5g).

Fig 3. H. isora growth, fruit production and trade. A. Workers at drying and re-packing H. isora fruits (Kupang, West Timor). B. Interior of a typical cooking hut in Molo, West Timor where H. isora fruits are stored before sale, showing smoke and soot blackened rafters contrasting with stored beans. C. The typical multi-stemmed growth form of H. isora in secondary regrowth (Bosen, West Timor). D. Left and right-hand threaded fruits. E. Two (out of potentially four) mature H. isora fruits are produced in the axils between the petiole and stem. F. Four mature H. isora fruits in a single axil. E. Tolak Angin, the flagship herbal product produced by PT. Sido Muncul in which H. isora fruit extract forms 10% of the total ingredients.

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Fig 4. Value chains for H. isora showing prices, activities and actors. The exchange rate at the time was 11000 IDR per 1US$. There are relatively few large-scale H. isora traders in West Timor. In total, there are three H. isora exporters in Kupang and just one (Gaja Mada) at the port of Atapupu in Atambua. Prior to 2011, there were three exporters in Atambua as well, but two of these were wiped out by a price crash in their mainstay product, Tamarindus indica L. fruit pulp (asem). For all actors along the supply chain, income from H. isora is supplementary to income from other sources. Consolidators and exporters of H. isora are a good example of this. In Niki-Niki, candlenut (kemiri) seeds from Aleurites moluccanus (L.) Willd. and T. indica fruit pulp are the main products traded, while in the higher altitude towns of Kapan and Kefamananu, peanuts are the most profitable product traded, followed by A. moluccanus seeds and T. indica fruit pulp. In stark contrast to the lack of any H. isora being sold in any of the informal sector markets surveyed in eastern Indonesia (West Timor, Flores, Sumba and Savu) (Cunningham et al, 2011), the traders we interviewed in West Timor were exporting 31-37 tonnes of sun-dried H. isora fruits per year to Surabaya and Semarang in Java. Based on discussions with the consolidators and exporters we interviewed, some of who are no longer trading, we suggest that a total of 60 - 80 tonnes of sun-dried H. isora fruits are exported to Java per year. At the current FOB price in Java, this would be worth 589 million IDR (US$44 200 per yr). 3.4 Harvest, fruit production and population biology Surprisingly, given the extensive use of this species in India for medicine (fruits, leaves) and rope (from the bark), few Timorese farmers used H. isora. Most were familiar with the species, however, which they cleared when preparing maize fields. H. isora is a vigorous resprouter in West Timor (Figure 3a), backing up Ding and Zang’s (2005) quantitative assessment of re-sprouting ability of different species in Hainan, China, which showed that H. isora was the most vigorous re-sprouter in their study site. Fruit production is low. In West Timor, H. isora fruits are usually produced between MayJune. Based on our field observations, fruit production is considerably lower than it potentially could be. In India, Atluri et. al (2000) concluded that pollination failure was the reason for low fruit production in this bird and bee pollinated species and this seems likely in West Timor as well. Flowers and fruits are produced in the axils between the leaves and the stem (Figures 3e and f). Potentially, four fruits could be produced in each axil. In our examination of the number of fruits produced in 50 axils of a H. isora shrub, only 68 fruits were fully matured from a potential total of 200 fruits (based on a potential total of four fruits per axil with complete pollination success). In 44 (88%) of these cases, only single fruits were produced. Of the remainder, 4 axils (8%) had two fruits/axil (Figure 3e), 6 (12%) had 3 fruits per axil and only one axil (2% of the sample) produced four fruits (Figure 3f). 8

In this same sample of 68 fruits from a single parent shrub, 42 (61.8%) were left-hand threaded and 26 (38.2%) were right-hand threaded (Figure 3d). In contrast, a larger sample of 252 fruits collected at a trader’s business in Kupang (so from a mixed sample of multiple shrubs), more 127 (50.4%) were right-hand threaded, 106 (42.1%) were left-hand threaded and a small proportion were straight (19 (7.5%)). 4.0 Discussion One of the advantages that the Indian Forest Department had to support the 19th century British interest in economic botany was access to indigenous knowledge through disucssions with Indian forest rangers who were trained at the Dehra Dun Forest School (Cornish, 2013). Samples of H. isora fruits and bark supplied to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew are evidence of international interest in the potential economic value of this species (Figure 1). Most contemporary trade is in H. isora fruits for medicinal purposes rather than H. isora bark. What has driven globalization of the H. isora fruit trade? Several factors account for a global trade in H. isora fruits for "traditional" medicine. 4.1 Popularity and demand: more than just the "Doctrine of Signatures" In the 19th century H. isora was a common component in the herbal medicine trade (Watt, 1890), a trend that continues in India over a century later (Ved and Goraya, 2008). There is no doubt that the unusual shape of the fruits has drawn attention cross-culturally. This is reflected in the meanings of vernacular names for H. isora in local languages within and outside the range of the species, which refer to the rope-like twisted shape of the fruits. Examples are the Hindi name (maror phali, meaning "twisted pod"), Mandarin name (火索麻 (Huǒ suǒ má in pinyin, meaning "fire rope"), Bahasa Malaysia (chabai tali (where tali means rope) and the isiZulu name, ijikantambo (meaning “pull the rope”). A common outsider assumption was that use of folk medicines from H. isora fruits to treat intestinal problems "had more to do with their intestinal-like twisted appearance than with their medicinal properties" (Brink and Escobin, 2003) and that the Doctrine of the Signatures resulted in H. isora in "most prescriptions for the cure of griping in the bowels and flatulence, especially in the cases of children. Its chief virtue seems to be its harmlessness". But as Brink and Escobin (2003) and studies referred to earlier in this paper indicate, research shows that H. isora fruits contain active ingredients. 4.2 Popularization outside the natural geographic range of H. isora by an Indian diaspora Based on detailed discussions with members of the Natal Herb Traders Association, one of the primary drivers of globalization of the H. isora trade in the 19th century were the indentured labourers sent to former British colonies to develop the sugar industry (L. Govender and B. Naidoo, pers. comm with A.B-Cunningham, 1988). This stimulated small business development by Indian settlers in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa (Hiralal, 2008), Mauritius (Brennan, 1998) and Trinidad and Tobago (Lai, 1993), including, we suggest, importation of H. isora and other South Asian herbal medicines. A similar historical dynamic, driven by an Indian diaspora, accounts for Trinidad and Tobago being the largest importing destination for Boswellia serrata Roxb. ex Colebr. (Brendler et al., this issue). In Bahrain, the high number of migrant workers from Bangladesh, India and Pakistan may also account for the trade there (Figure 2). 4.3 Old ingredient, new production processes and packaging In the 21st century, H. isora is an ingredient of Ayurvedic products made in India as well as Indonesian jamu herbal preparations in well organized, modern factory facilities. An Indian example is AyuLax, an Ayurvedic product produced by Welex Laboratories Pvt. Ltd (Maharashtra, India) that contains 40mg of H. isora fruits in addition to eight other herbal 9

ingredients. These are imported into Indonesia by PT. K-Link Indonesia (Java, Indonesia). Within Indonesia, the rapid growth of the local traditional medicines (jamu) industry also reflects growing demand for H. isora fruits from several well-known jamu companies, including Nyonya Meneer and PT. Sido Muncul. For PT. Sido Muncul, the herbal medicine sector was the most important contributor to company profits, with 13.3 % year on year growth (Phillip Capital, 2015). Jamu is produced in three main forms: powder (30%), liquid (67%) and tablets (3%) (Phillip Capital, 2014). And the most popular of PT. Sido Muncul’s products is the Tolak Angin brand, which is in liquid form in easy to consume sachets (Figure 3e). In 2012, PT. Sido Muncul had 75% share in the herbal cold remedy market (Philip Capital, 2015). Based on the labeling on Tolak Angin sachet, each contains 5.67 g of herbal extract, 10% of which is from H. isora. With sales of Tolak Angin at around 80 million sachets/month, this represents an monthly demand of 4536 kg of H. isora dry fruits/month (or 54.4 tonnes/year) by this single large company. Based on the mass of fresh vs. air-dry H. isora fruits in our study, there are 465 fruits/kg (fresh mass) or 1620 fruits/kg (air-dry mass). So Indonesian imports from India would represent around 220 million fruits/year. However, the cost of H. isora fruits imported from India is similar to the price paid by jamu companies for H. isora fruits imported from West Timor. This is due to relatively long supply chains from a “farm-gate” price of 4000-5000 IDR/kg (about US$0.30 - 0.38/kg) to harvesters in rural West Timor to 25000 – 30000 IDR/kg (about US$1.88 – 2.25/kg) when sold to jamu companies in Surabaya and Semarang (Figure 4). 4.4 Growing demand through branding and celebrity support Tolak Angin has been the leading brand in Indonesia Top Brand Index in the health-care and pharma sector between 2014 and 2017 (Kabaressy and Handoyo, 2017 and YouGovBrandIndex, 2017). This is not a matter of chance in a very competive market. It is the result of significant investments in advertising and branding evident from the remarkable number of Indonesian studies have focused on what influences customer choice and brand loyalty to Tolak Angin (Martopo, 2015; Pribadi and Dharmmesta, 2011; Setyawati, 2017), competitive advantages of Tolak Angin (Fedora, 2013; Puspita and Nugrahani, 2014) and advertising tactics (Santoso et al, 2014), that include the use of celebrity support (Audrine, 2012). 4.5 Abundant wild stocks combined with low impact harvest. To sustain commercial trade, the demand for H. isora fruits has to be matched by sufficient supplies and sustainable harvest. In eastern Indonesia, where field observation in dry forests of Sumba and West Timor shows that H. isora populations are scattered and at a relatively low density. In contrast, H. isora can be a dominant species in some woodlands in India. In a study in dry forest in southern India, for example, H. isora one of the four most abundant dry forest species in the study site (Sukumar et al., 1992). And unlike several other commercially harvested medicinal plants described in this special issue, where harvest has a high impact (Brendler et al., this volume; Cunningham et al., this volume), harvest of H. isora fruits has a low impact. Debarking by wildlife inside some conservation areas in India can result in high mortality of H. isora (Khan et al, 1994). Nevertheless, while other factors, such as climate and insect attack can influence fruit production (Muthukumar et al, 2017), destructive effects of harvest are low and the opportunity for sustainable harvest is high. 4.6 Is there scope for H. isora cultivation? Over 60 years ago, Sebastine (1954) concluded that “in view of the shortage of natural fibre, a systematic and large scale cultivation of Kaivun may be of great value” and proceeded with H. isora cultivation trials. Since then, commercial interest in natural fibres first waned, 10

with the availability of synthetic fibres, such as nylon, but has now grown again. Driven by higher levels of public awareness about the environment, about waste disposal and about depletion of petrochemical resources, there is a new impetus for growth of new materials and products based on natural fibres and biopolymers, some of which can compete with synthetic products. In addition, there is growing interest in non-timber forest products that could add value to teak plantations in Indonesia to diversify and improve income to local people. With projected sales of Tolak Angin reported to be 140-150 million sachets per month (Standard Chartered Equity Research, 2014), H. isora production in agroforestry systems or teak plantations in eastern Indonesia is worth careful consideration. The results of Sebastine’s (1954) study are still useful today. Key results were that: (i) spacing of seedlings (2-3 feet (0.6096 - 0.9144 ) vs. 20 feet (6.096 m) apart) influenced H. isora growth form. With the close spacing, a single main stem grew up above smaller stems, but with wide spacing, H. isora formed multi-stemmed bushes; (ii) planted just before the monsoon, H. isora seedlings grew rapidly. At one-year old, the main stem was 1.27cm - 1.9 cm (0.5 – 0.75 inches in Sebastine (1954)) in diameter and the trees were 1.22 - 2.13m (4-7 feet) high. At two years old, H. isora trees stem diameter ranged from 1.9 – 2.54cm (0.75 – 1 inch) and trees were 2.13 - 3.66m (7-12 feet) high. Trees grew rapidly after manure was added to the soil and started to flower and fruit. At two years old, the trees were cut for fibre, sprouting vigorously after cutting. Sebastine (1954) noted that the best quality fibre (for sacking) was from long, straight branches recommending annual cutting for fibre. If bark is needed for extraction of active ingredients for anti-diabetic or anti-inflammatory use, then a different approach may be needed and studies on how active ingredient content is influenced by tree (or bark) age and coppice rotation history would be useful. In India, with large wild H. isora stocks, cultivation may be less viable than in Indonesia. But it is worth assessing how relevant Sebastine’s (1954) recommendation for H. isora production in India's teak (Tectona grandis) plantations would be to Indonesia? There certainly is scope in Indonesia today, where teak is the most popular timber species grown by farmers. Most teak production occurs in Java, but in East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia’s driest and poorest province, over 19300 households grow teak (Hardiyanto and Prayitno, 2008), including in West Timor, where H. isora currently is wild harvested. But large-scale involvement of small-holder farmers in H. isora cultivation needs to be considered very carefully before any implementation takes place. With the large volume of H. isora fruits exported from India and the competitive prices paid of these H. isora fruits, the scope for price increases at the farm-gate in West Timor is limited. There may also be a market for H. isora bark in the future. There is renewed interest for example, in H. isora bark fibre as a reinforcing component in bio-composites (Joshy et al., 2006; Mathew et al., 2011). Expansion of bark processing for the jamu industry in Java may also be possible through extraction of the anti-inflammatory (Badgujar et al., 2009) and antidiabetic (Aleykutty and Akhila, 2012; Kumar and Singh, 2014) properties of the bark for jamu in Indonesia. These uses of the bark, in conjunction with growing demand for herbal products from H. isora fruits, offer an opportunity to build on Sebastine’s (1954) cultivation trials, where both old and new commercial uses of H. isora could add to the economic viability of H. isora cultivation as a multi-use understorey shrub in teak plantations. 4.7 What are the priorities for future research? Three steps are suggested prior to implementation of cultivation trials. Firstly, better insights are needed into the micro-economics of H. isora production in teak plantations. These could be achieved through modeling “what if” questions to test whether a shift from extensive wild harvest of fruits to more intensive on-farm production of multiple products (fruits, bark, charcoal) from H. isora may be a viable option. 11

Secondly, given the similarity in prices paid for H. isora fruits imported from India and locally harvested fruits in Indonesia, the competitive edge in sales to Indonesian companies is likely to come from improving the quality of dried H. isora fruits and improved drying, storage and grading of fruits at the household level. In West Timor, dried H. isora fruits are often stored in the same location as food crops are traditionally stored: traditional "cooking huts", where smoke keeps away insects that could cause post-harvest loss. However, this can also cause smoke and soot contamination of H. isora fruits that are then sold to the jamu industry. In addition, from field observation, both imported and locally harvested H. isora fruits are susceptible to fungal infection, due to packing before the fruits are sufficiently dry. In India, a study of 15 medicinal plant species collected at random from herbal medicine shops showed that 17 fungal species were found on H. isora, including the species in the three most mycotoxic genera (Aspergillus, Penicillium and Fusarium species). out of all 15 medicinal plant species sampled, stored H. isora were affected by the third highest number of fungi after Plantago ovata (21 fungal species) and Carum copticum Benth (18 species). Fungi occurring on H. isora in Dhale's (2013) study are sources of aflatoxins (Aspergillus), ochratoxins (Aspergillus and Penicillium) and trichothecenes and fumonisins (Fusarium), all of which pose potential health risks in the supply chain (Bryden, 2007). Research on potential mycotoxins in the H. isora supply-chain is needed in Indonesia, as are practical actions to improve drying and storage techniques. For example, solar driers at village level “bulking up” centres could double-up in drying other products (such as candlenut (Aleurites moluccanus) seeds in addition to drying H. isora fruits. Thirdly, fruit and seed production could be improved, for example through cultivation and possibly more effective pollination. In India, the recent study by Muthukumar et. al (2017) found that 35-41% of fruits contained non-viable seeds. But this is a complex problem to solve in populated landscapes. Any plans to cultivate H. isora from seed need to recognize the poor dormancy of H. isora seeds, which need to be planted within a maximum of 6 months. In India, Muthukumar et. al (2017) found that 88.2% of seeds were viable up to 6 months, but after 2 years in storage, seed viability had dropped to 24.2%, with best germination achieved after acid treatment of the seeds. Without taking action on at least some of these steps, however, H. isora fruit production is likely to remain a small income supplement to Timorese households.

Conclusions H. isora is widespread and locally abundant in dry forests and woodlands in India, which is the major exporter of whole dried H. isora fruits. Major importers are Indonesia and Thailand, where H. isora occurs naturally. In addition, due to the influence of an Indian diaspora over more than 150 years, smaller quantities of H. isora are also exported to countries where this species has never been in traditional use (Bahrain, Iraq, Mauritius, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago and South Africa). Consequently, in addition to use in medicinal systems in India (Ayurvedic, Unani, Siddha and folk medical systems), China (Traditional Chinese Medicine) and Indonesia (jamu), H. isora fruits have been adopted into other “traditional” medical systems, from Iraq (Kurdish herbal medicines) and South Africa (Zulu traiditonal medicine). In Indonesia, H. isora fruit extracts are used in the cosmetic industry and for “Tolak Angin”, the country's most popular commercial “jamu” preparation. Indonesia is the major importer of H. isora fruits from India. In eastern Indonesia, where there are natural populations of H. isora, improved income to local villagers from the H. isora fruit trade is more likely to come from increased H. isora fruit quality after better drying and storage methods. This would also reduce potential health risks from smoke contaminated fruits stored above cooking fires and from mycotoxins on poorly dried H. isora fruits. There also is an opportunity for cultivation of H. isora in small-holder teak plantations in Indonesia, with multiple-use of both H. isora fruits and of the medicinal, fibrous bark. 12

Acknowledgements We gratefully acknowledge financial support for this study from the Australian Council for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) under the project “Development of Timber and Non-Timber Forest Products’ production and Marketing Strategies for Improvement of Smallholders’ Livelihoods in Indonesia” (FST 2012/039). We would also like to thank the local farmers and H. isora traders in West Timor as well as staff at PT. Sido Muncul, Nyonya Meneer and PT. Maarta Tilaar for time spent on discussions and Willy Kadati for his help and advice. Three anonymous reviewers are thanked for suggesting improvements to this paper.

Authors contributions A. B (Tony) Cunningham and William Ingram carried out the fieldwork for this study in West Timor, Indonesia and Josef Brinckmann collected and analysed the international trade data. The photographs for Figure 3 were taken by Tony Cunningham, who also prepared the maps and value-chain figure. Mark Nesbitt contributed information on the 19th century trade, including specimens of H. isora products in the Economic Botany Collection at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (Figure 4).

Conflict of interest statement One of the co-authors (Josef A. Brinckmann) was contracted by the senior author (A. B. Cunningham) to access and analyze trade data on H. isora. He is an employee of Traditional Medicinals, Inc., but has no vested interest in the study. The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.

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