WILLINGBORO, N.J., June 22, 1998--Photosynthetic Harvest Inc. (PHI) has developed and begun implementing a unique process to discover and manufacture valuable natural products, including pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, biopesticides, preservatives, cosmetics, flavors, and fragrances, using the novel, cost-effective, and environmentally safe Rhizosecretion process. The Rhizosecretion process, developed at Rutgers University in the laboratory of Professor Ilya Raskin Ph.D., takes advantage of the ability of green plants, grown in water (hydroponically) in greenhouses, to synthesize and secrete large quantities of unique, bioactive compounds from their roots.
The ability of green plants to manufacture complex and valuable natural products is legendary, and mankind for much of recorded history has sought to harvest these products. Examples range from frankincense, myrrh, and opium, to modern day anti-cancer agents such as TaxolR. Green plants remain a vast, untapped resource for future discovery of new natural compounds, which have potential utility in multiple industries. However, many of these natural products have proven exceptionally expensive and difficult to produce synthetically, even with the most modern and sophisticated chemical techniques. Yet, large-scale collecting of plants from their natural environments, and subsequent extraction of compounds for commercialization, are often economically unfeasible and environmentally destructive. PHI has recently solved the riddle of how to produce large quantities of unique valuable compounds from nature's own chemical factories, literally "milking" plants via the Rhizosecretion process, which is economically and environmentally sound.
PHI's technology is based on a fundamental understanding of how and why plants
produce such unique compounds. Unlike humans and animals, which have a variety
of mechanisms available to protect themselves from both external and internal
stresses, plants have only one major
'"/>
Contact: Ira S. Pastor
ipastor@phiroots.com
609-835-1600
Photosynthetic Harvest Inc.
19-Jun-1998