ADVERTORIAL
REFERENCES
1 . Pfau , M . L ., Ménard , C ., & Russo , S . J . ( 2018 ). Inflammatory Mediators in Mood Disorders : Therapeutic Opportunities . Annual Review of Pharmacology and Toxicology , 58 , 411 – 428 . https :// doi . org / 10.1146 / annurevpharmtox-010617-052823
2 . Kiecolt-Glaser , J . K ., Wilson , S . J ., Bailey , M . L ., Andridge , R ., Peng , J ., Jaremka , L . M ., Belury , M . A . ( 2018 ). Marital distress , depression , and a leaky gut : Translocation of bacterial endotoxin as a pathway to inflammation . Psychoneuroendocrinology , 98 , 52 – 60 . https :// doi . org / 10.1016 / j . psyneuen . 2018.08.007
3 . Maes , M ., Kubera , M ., & Leunis , J . -C. ( 2008 ). The gutbrain barrier in major depression : intestinal mucosal dysfunction with an increased translocation of LPS from gram negative enterobacteria ( leaky gut ) plays a role in the inflammatory pathophysiology of depression . Neuro Endocrinology Letters , 29 ( 1 ), 117 – 124 . Retrieved from http :// www . ncbi . nlm . nih . gov / pubmed / 18283240
4 . Kéri , S ., Szabó , C ., & Kelemen , O . ( 2014 ). Expression of Toll-Like Receptors in peripheral blood mononuclear cells and response to cognitivebehavioral therapy in major depressive disorder . Brain , behavior , and immunity , 40 , 235 – 243 . https :// doi . org / 10.1016 / j . bbi . 2014.03.020
5 . Rudzki , L ., & Szulc , A . ( 2018 ). “ Immune Gate ” of Psychopathology-The Role of Gut Derived Immune Activation in Major Psychiatric Disorders . Frontiers in Psychiatry , 9 , 205 . https :// doi . org / 10.3389 / fpsyt . 2018.00205
6 . Malcolm , B . J ., & Tallian , K . ( 2018 ). Essential oil of lavender in anxiety disorders : Ready for prime time ?. The mental health clinician , 7 ( 4 ), 147 – 155 . https :// doi . org / 10.9740 / mhc . 2017.07.147
7 . Koulivand , P . H ., Khaleghi Ghadiri , M ., & Gorji , A . ( 2013 ). Lavender and the nervous system . Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM , 2013 , 681304 . https :// doi . org / 10.1155 / 2013 / 681304
8 . Huang , M . Y ., Liao , M . H ., Wang , Y . K ., Huang , Y . S ., & Wen , H . C . ( 2012 ). Effect of lavender essential oil on LPS-stimulated inflammation . The American journal of Chinese medicine , 40 ( 4 ), 845 – 859 . https :// doi . org / 10.1142 / S0192415X12500632
9 . Cardia , G ., Silva-Filho , S . E ., Silva , E . L ., Uchida , N . S ., Cavalcante , H ., Cassarotti , L . L ., Salvadego , V ., Spironello , R . A ., Bersani-Amado , C . A ., & Cuman , R . ( 2018 ). Effect of Lavender ( Lavandula angustifolia ) Essential Oil on Acute Inflammatory Response . Evidencebased complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM , 2018 , 1413940 . https :// doi . org / 10.1155 / 2018 / 1413940
Herbal Farming and Manufacturing Update
by Warren Morey | Herbalist and Manager of the Pharmaceutical Plant Company
Manufacturing Percolators are the engine room of PPC Herbs . These are responsible for generating the herbal extracts that are at the core of everything we do here . Recently PPC has purchased quite a few new percolators . They are constructed in Pharmaceutical Quality stainless steel . Each percolator includes 2 Percolator cannisters that are loaded into the Percolator .
As our Production Manager had a few weeks off , he refreshed my training in handling this equipment . It requires significant skill to load and unload these percolators in continuous cycles of production . The percolators are large , each empty stainless-steel percolator cannister is heavy already before having any herb added . How much herb weight they hold varies significantly depending on the plant material ? Light for flowers , and heavy for roots and seeds . They are even heavier at extract harvest time . The percolator cannister are now full the herb , wet with the solvent of ethanol and water . We use a block and tackle assembly to lift the cannisters out of the percolators . They are placed in a press for squeezing to remove the balance of the extract not collected by draining them .
After collection of the extract , it is filtered to remove particulates and ensure it is microbially clean .
I was certainly happy to see our Production Manager return and have a renewed appreciation for the hard work put in to making these extracts you use every day .
Farming The Bureau of Meteorology ( BoM ) are predicting a La Nina summer . La Nina events increase the chance of above average rainfall in Eastern Australia , during Spring
and summer . It looks like their predictions are correct so far . While extra rain down at Marleen herbs is good for the herbs , it also leads to prolific weed growth . Weeds are the number one enemy for Organic herb growers .
Herbs on a commercial organic herb farm are controlled with a combination of cultivation and manual weeding . Wet soil makes cultivation difficult , enables the weed to survive and ensures manual weeding is difficult . Ronald and Marleen at Marleen herbs are sure to be looking for extra help . That is currently hard to find with almost no backpackers or foreign workers to supplement the local workforce .
If you have further questions , please email me at warren . morey @ ppcherbs . com . au Photo Credits : Warren Morey , PPC Herbs
Disclaimer : The views and opinions expressed in these advertorials are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of ATMS or its Directors .
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