ID :
71170
Mon, 07/20/2009 - 17:38
Auther :

M'SIAN HERBAL TRADITIONAL BOOK LAUNCHED IN U.S.



By Salmy Hashim

WASHINGTON, July 20 (Bernama) -- Biotropics Malaysia Berhad, which develops
and promotes herbal-based products, is here on a whirlwind media tour to promote
Malaysian herbal traditions with a book targeted at the lucrative American
health and beauty market.

Its director of marketing and customer support, Siti Noorihani Ibrahim, said
the book, "Health and Beauty from the Rainforest: Malaysian Traditions of
Ramuan", which highlights Malaysia's herbal practices including Malay, Chinese,
Indian and Orang Asli traditions, drew enthusiastic response from the print and
broadcast media in New York, Philadelphia, and Washington DC.

The team from Biotropics Malaysia, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Khazanah
Nasional Berhad, will head for Los Angeles before returning home following a
media tour from July 13 to 21.

"It helps that we've brought the sample "Ramuan" products - made from about
2,000 natural rainforest products - designed to help men and women feel youthful
and sexually vital," said its head of corporate communications and external
relations Zurinawati Zainal Abidin.

Biotropics Malaysia participated in the Natural Product Expo West in
Annaheim, California, in March to launch the products at the expo which drew
about 50,000 visitors.

The product launch caught the interest of GNC, a major dietary supplement
chain in the United States, which now carries the Ramuan products containing
extracts from Tongkat Ali, Kacip Fatimah and Kesum at 600 of its corporate
outlets.

Eurycoma longifolia (a.k.a. Tongkat Ali or Pasak Bumi) is a flowering plant
in the family Simaroubaceae, native to Indonesia and Malaysia while Kacip
Fatimah or labisa pumila is the female version of Tongkat Ali.

It is a small woody and leafy plant that grows and can be found widely in
the shade of forest floors. The leaves are about 20 centimetres long, and they
are traditionally used as a kind of tea by women who experience a loss of
libido.

While Kesum or better known as Vietnamese coriander (Persicaria odorata,
syn. Polygonum odoratum, Polygonaceae) is a herb of which the leaves are
frequently used in Southeast Asian cooking.

"We expect the products to be carried in more than 300 of its outlets - and
that would mean nearly 1,000 of GNC outlets by the end of the year all over the
United States," said Siti Noorihani.

-- BERNAMA



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