Indonesia’s Herbal Industry Faces Quality Challenges Despite Abundant Natural Resources

Jakarta — Indonesia’s natural resources provide a strong foundation for developing its national herbal industry. A wide range of medicinal plants and spices grow across the country, including ginger, turmeric, Java turmeric, sambiloto, gotu kola and tongkat ali.

This potential offers significant economic opportunities, both to meet domestic demand and to expand into international markets. The use of herbal plants is also part of Indonesian tradition, passed down through generations.

However, abundant raw materials do not automatically guarantee the quality of herbal products. One of the industry’s biggest challenges is the ability of businesses to maintain consistent standards, from raw materials through to the production process.

Herbal product quality is determined not only by processing technology but also by the condition of the materials used from the outset. Variations in raw-material quality can affect the characteristics of the final product, making continuous oversight from upstream to downstream essential.

Indonesia’s herbal industry has significant potential

Indonesia is known as one of the world’s most biodiverse countries. It has around 30,000 plant species, thousands of which have the potential to be used in traditional medicines.

This potential provides a foundation for developing various sectors, from jamu and standardised herbal medicines (OHT) to phytopharmaceuticals. The industry is also closely linked to the public economy, involving farmers, collectors, micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), and large-scale pharmaceutical companies.

The healthy-lifestyle trend and consumers’ growing inclination to return to natural ingredients, or ‘back to nature’, have also created opportunities for the herbal industry to grow.

Even so, the abundance of natural resources does not always translate into consistent raw-material quality. Plants of the same species may contain different levels of active compounds depending on where they are grown, soil conditions, weather and harvest timing.

These variations present a challenge for producers, who need raw materials with relatively uniform specifications and active-compound levels for each production run.