Processed “kacangma” available in the market for local consumption

Just mention the word “kacangma” and most people would start humming with gastronomic delight for it is synonymous with a popular chicken dish in Sarawak.

What makes the dish a hit is the herb - Leonurus sibiricus or locally known as “kacangma”- that is used to cook and simmer the meat in. “Kacangma” is one of the herbs that are being developed by the Department of Agriculture (DoA) of Sarawak as a flagship herb of Sarawak. The DoA, Sarawak hopes to tap the herb’s potential as a health food and tonic for the domestic and export markets following recent trends in the herbs and spice industry worldwide.

Trading of herbs and spices goes back as far as 2600BC and continues even today, growing from strength to strength. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 80% of the population in developing countries rely on traditional medicine for primary health care. In addition, the international herbal medicine sales are growing at 10% annually while the global nutrition industry is growing at a healthy 17% between the years 1997 and 2000.

The size of the herbal medicines market is estimated to be in the billions a year of which 70% are dominated by Chinese traditional medicine. Although Malaysia’s health food industry is still in its infancy, there is a steady growth of 20% per annum recorded and current market value is about RM5.4 billion.
Amidst this optimistic scenario and huge potential of the herbs & spices industry, it is timely that a workshop on the herbs & spices industry was recently
organized. The “Workshop on Herbs & Spices Industry: Development & Business Direction for Sarawak” was jointly organized by Sarawak Development
Institute (SDI), Ministry of Agriculture & Food Industries Sarawak (MAFI) and Malaysian Agriculture Research and Development Institute (MARDI) on 13 January 2004.

The workshop provided a forum for discussion and experience sharing on the current status of the herbs & spices industry in Sarawak, and to provide guidelines for policy formulation and strategies for herbs and spices in the state.

The one-day event was officiated by the Minister of Agriculture & Food Industries Sarawak, YB Dato Sri Haji Adenan bin Haji Satem.

He addressed several issues in the herbs & spices industry such as human resource (knowledge & expertise), database (information sharing & centralization) and regulatory requirements of pharmaceutical products (quality control through modernizing herbal production and processing methods).

The Minister stated, “Growers of herb and spices will need to achieve a balance between producing the herbs that meet the demands of their target market and achieving efficient production, harvesting, storage and processing performance.”

Four papers were presented during the workshop, touching on these topics: Overview of Herbs & Spices in Malaysia, Selected Potential Herbs & Spices for Sarawak, Production & Processing Technology for Potential Herbs & Spices, Application of Biotechnology to Herbs, and How to be Competitive in Herbs & Spices Industry.

More than 70 participants from various government departments in Sarawak, Terengganu, Sabah, and Johor and research institutes and private organizations attended the workshop.