MEDICINAL AND AROMATIC PLANTS: SECONDARY SCHOOL TRAINING COURSES

Plants produce useful substances for human health and care. The demand for these plants and the products obtained from them is nowadays worldwide increasing, and some of them are becoming scarce in some areas due to wild harvesting. The demand in Europe for products obtained from Medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs), for instance food supplements, is going to grow, for our health care needs and demands are changing. In fact, medicinal use of MAPs represent the biggest number of plant species used by human, as they provide most of the medicinal ingredients in many health care traditional systems. But these plants are not only used for medicines. Their use in the cosmetic and perfumery, food and liquor industries is well known, as well as other uses as natural pesticides, dyes, tannins, etc.

Teaching of these subjects to secondary school students is important so that they become aware of the importance of the biodiversity of these plants, the quantity of products and active principles that are obtained from them, and the existence of a whole range of natural products with cosmetic interest, so as medicinal and nutritional interest. Through workshops that have been given in schools and institutes, students have the possibility of knowing these plants, the essential oils, and vegetable extracts that are obtained from them, so as they acquire the knowledge in order to elaborate their own preparations based on plants.

Because of this, members of the Forestry School of the Technical University of Madrid (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, UPM), offer educational workshops in the field of aromatic plants at secondary education institutes.