Scientists from the University of Plymouth are working alongside Cornish firm Trelonk Molecular Wellbeing to explore the many and varied potential health benefits of plants.
Trelonk has recently unveiled a £1million scientific facility at its site in rural Cornwall, marking the next stage of the relationship between the company and its science partners.
The plant therapy brand will now directly benefit from the research, extraction and analysis that the new equipment will bring, with three state-of-the-art laboratories designated for plant tissue culture, phytochemical extraction and molecular analysis.
The partnership between the University and Trelonk has emerged as a result of academics' work as part of the £10million Agri-Tech Cornwall initiative.
Part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund, with match-funding from Cornwall Council, the partnership enabled the University to develop Plant Factory Cornwall, which is using artificial lighting powered by solar energy to create the best possible conditions for fruit and vegetables to flourish.
That led to discussions with Trelonk, and researchers from the University - including Professor of Plant Physiology Mick Fuller and Senior Research Fellow Dr Hail Rihan - are now working in their laboratories on a number of joint projects.
Professor Jerry Roberts
Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Jerry Roberts and colleagues from the University were at Trelonk for the new labs' official launch earlier this month. Professor Roberts said:
"The development of these new labs is enormously exciting. I am eager to see how it might enable us to expand our work alongside the team at Trelonk, and I can already see this project has great vision for the future. Working together, there is undoubtedly the potential for us to use plants to produce products which can be used for medical and pharmaceutical purposes and a whole range of other benefits."
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