Usage of plant extracts in the global market operates in nine segments such as medicine, food and cosmetics, and according to Grand View Research statistics, the size of the global market will be 38.6 billion US dollars in 2023 and the compound annual growth rate will be 8.7%. In the medical field, paclitaxel extract with a ≥98% concentration level, which is the major component of anti-cancer drugs, one kilogram is valued higher than $50,000, and medical statistics indicate that its combination chemotherapy has the capability of increasing the survival rate of 5-year-old breast cancer patients by 12.3%. As shown in the 2022 Novartis annual report, the chemical synthetic drug used to treat cognitive impairment produced through the synthesis with ginkgo biloba extract EGb761 (24% flavonoid glycoside content) retails 740 million euros annually by type, and production cost is 38% lower than chemical synthetic drugs.
The second largest application of plant extract markets is the cosmetics sector. Repair essence by L’Oreal Group containing asiaticoside (0.3% concentration) in 2023 recorded more than 210 million euros in the first quarter of listing, and its supercritical CO2 technology increased the retention of active ingredients by 72% to 95% compared to traditional ethanol extraction. Korea’s Kosmos green tea polyphenol nanocrystal sunblock (particle size 50nm) contains SPF 50+, and its UV absorption efficiency is 42% higher than chemical sunscreens. Plants whose stem cell content increases (such as apple stem cell culture liquid) are to be preferred with 19% growth in market penetration in the year 2022 and, based on each milliliter raw material, be sold at $8.2, 3.6 times more than a normal plant extract.
Natural ingredients in the nature of plant extracts for the beverage and food industry have experienced average annual market size growth of 9.3%, and the new monkfruit sweet side 300 times as sweet as sucrose sugar-free drink of Coca-Cola in 2024 is produced at the cost of 17% less than aspartame, whereas the first-month volume in selling of the North American market is over 4.5 million cases. Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare permitted soybean isoflavone (40% purity) functional food labeling, taken daily at a dose of 1.2 million copies, clinically shown to reduce the incidence of osteoporosis in women by 23%. On the industrial application front, DuPont’s bioplastics produced using castor oil with 30% plant extract have tensile properties of 45MPa, while the degradation period was cut from 500 years of petro-plastics to 6 months, and after undergoing the EU REACH certification process, production is increased to 120,000 tons/year in 2023.
In plant science and technology, the annual growth rate of substitution of biopesticides based on plant extract rose by 15.6%, and the killing rate of matrine water agent (concentration 0.3%) raised by Syngenta Group was 91.5%, 29% lower than chemical pesticides in terms of price, and the rate of qualified detection of residue was 100%. On environmental protection, Chinese Academy of Sciences adjusted bamboo vinegar (pH2.8-3.5) is used to be used to treat industrial wastewater, COD removal efficiency increases from 68% traditional medicine to 89%, tons of water treatment cost is reduced by 1.2. Technological innovation on the production side is incredible. The intelligent extraction system of Switzerland Buchi optimizes parameters (temperature 50±2℃, pressure 35bar) through AI algorithm, which improves the extraction efficiency of rosemary antioxidants by 4,012 billion yuan.