TABLE OF CONTENTS Trevor Herbert Yee
Natural Products Institute, The University of the West Indies, Mona, Kingston 7, Jamaica, West Indies
A number of Jamaican plants have been harvested both from the wild and from cultivation and exported as raw materials, and in a few cases extraction facilities have been established in Jamaica. Some of the most important plants harvested and which have export potential are described below.
Logwood ( Haematoxylum campechianum [Caesalpiniaceae])
The use of logwood as a dye was described by Robert Hooke as early as 1650. It is believed to have been used by the Amerindians of the region long before then. It is a plant native to Mexico, hence its species name, Central America and tropical South America. The plant was introduced to Jamaica in the early 18 th century and the country became an important source of the tree for the extraction of its dye in the 18 th and 19 th centuries [1, 2]. The south coastal town of Black River was the center of export, and because of its economic activity and development became the first town in Jamaica to have installed electricity. In the early 20 th century, a large bioextraction plant was established in Kingston, processing over fifty tonnes of the wood per production day.
The heartwood contains up to 10% haematoxylin (Figure 1), a colourless to pale yellow crystalline substance extracted by hot water. This is oxidized to several oxidation products,...
