Gounkhar (Leptadenia reticulata), a medicinal plant and an ingredient of betel quid, is getting higher prices, according to interviews with betel quid and accessory shops.
“The price has jumped a lot. It became about K 5,000. Its retail price is K 7,000-8,000. It has skyrocketed during this month. As far as I know, there are not as many root harvesters as there used to be. Since these people didn’t go to the jungle to harvest the roots, the gounkhar price shot up. It is expected to rise further in the coming months,” said a gounkhar trader from Yamethin township.
Another reason for the rising price is that with the arrival of summer, gounkhar roots perish quickly due to heat and dryness, the betel accessory shops said.
“Gounkhar price has risen. It is getting a high price. When our old stock is finished, we can’t sell at this price. Since the weather is hot, some gounkhar roots wither or rot so that the price will go up. One reason is that it is easily perishable,” said a betel and accessory dealer from Htantabin township.
Gounkhar from central and upper Myanmar, which regularly sells well in Myanmar, was exported to South Korea last year.
Gounkhar is commonly used as one of the primary ingredients in many herbal formulations for the treatment and prevention of high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, osteoporosis, Alzheimer’s disease, tumours and cancer in the lungs and gastrointestinal tract. — Thit Taw/ZN/ED
