The Mona Symposium, January 1968
Natural Products and Medicinal Chemistry

International gathering of chemists at UWI symposium
Gleaner University Correspondent

The Department of Chemistry at The University of the West Indies was recently host to an international gathering of chemists at a Natural Products Symposium.
 
This was the “third”* in a series of symposia on natural products which was inaugurated in 1966 at Mona. Plans are now being made for the next conference in 1970, which essentially is for chemists engaged in the study of substances extracted from plants and animals.
 
The programme which has been termed eminently successful by its organisers, consisted of formal and informal discussions on papers on many aspects of the chemistry of such substances as antibiotics, the anti-cancer compound isolated from plants, and the powerful poisons extracted from frog and colouring materials.
 
The contributions by chemists from Mona dealt with extractives from cedar and related plants and wild rosemary.
 
Periwinkle

It is significant to Jamaica that in one of the principal papers of the meeting - the plenary lecture by Professor J.P. Kutney from the University of British Columbia in Canada- the subject was the synthesis of substances extracted from periwinkle some of which have anti-cancer activity and are being used therapeutically.
 
These substances came to be studied as early as 1947 by the prompting of Dr C.D. Johnston of Black River, Jamaica
 
Other plenary lectures were given by Professor S.M. Kupchan, University of Wisconsin, USA, Professor T.A. Geissman, University of California in Los Angeles; Professor E. Leete of the University of Minnesota, Professor K. Wiesner, University of New Brunswick in Canada and Professor E. Wenkert of Indiana University.
 
The lectures were recorded and will be made available to the other campuses of the university at Cave Hill and St. Augustine.
 
The organising committee of the symposium comprised Professor L.J. Haynes, Dean of the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Head of the Department of Chemistry, and Drs W.R. Chan, E.R. Taylor, K.E. Magnus and K.L. Stuart of the Department of Chemistry.
 
*- possibly the confusion over the numbering comes from a local Symposium held earler in 1965.
Natural Products Chemistry research symposium set
A symposium on current research in natural products chemistry will be held in the Chemistry Department, U.W.I. Mona on Friday, 26 March 1965 at 2 p.m.
The programme includes a lecture on "Some Chemico-Botanical Problems in West Indian Economic Plants" and papers on an alkaloid from Croton Linearis (Spanish rosemary), the bitter principle from Andrographis paniculata (rice bitters), fish attractants in Arca zebra (the local mussel), investigations into bush teas and possible anti-termite substances in cedar and related plants.

All interested persons are invited to attend.

Another report of the 1968 Symposium noted it was the second Symposium which corresponds to the International Symposia series.

At Natural Products Symposium

Seaga urges new areas of research for banana, coconut.
 
The Minister of Finance and Planning, the Hon. Edward Seaga yesterday told Natural Products Specialists that banana and coconut were worthy of further scientific research.
He urged them to look for new areas of research from these products from which could be evolved new economic products.
Addressing the Second Natural Products Symposium at the Department of Chemistry at The UWI, the Minister said that small developing countries like Jamaica had a very difficult decision to make, knowing well that scientific research in natural products paid huge dividends in the long run, in terms of the development of new products, technological advancement, education of new skills and all the things that formed part and parcel of the economy.
But, Mr Seaga went on, at the same time they faced big problems in areas of priorities of expenditure- immediate things like the infra-structure were Government’s primary responsibility - and of having to satisfy some of the major areas of needs on the part of a large section of the population that lived at subsistence level. Because of this, he observer, in many respects scientific research did not get the attention if deserved, and as a result the Government had to seek supplementary assistance for financing research.
Mr Seaga then explained that one of the agencies that Jamaica had been working closely with in order to organise and expand its facilities for scientific research at a higher level was the United Nations, and the Government was now in the process of preparing several plans for systematic increase in scientific research on selected areas through the Scientific Research Council, which, together with the University, were two major agencies concerned with scientific research in the country.

Bearing in Mind

In doing that he pointed out they were bearing in mind many of the areas which have been particularly neglected in the scientific research in the past.
Speaking of the research in banana, the Minister said it could be used for making soup or wine, and Jamaica was presently making a research into the use of the fruit and on the residual mass from the tree such as fibres. He explained that extracts from the fibres could be used to make marking ink.
With regard to coconut, Mr Seaga said it could be fed into a complex machine capable of extracting jelly, juices and bread. He also mentioned the jackfruit, which he said, had a very strong flavour and which could be distilled into flavours for use in mixture of additives of various types.
Here in Jamaica, Mr Seaga continued, “we have an unexplored field which is worthy of attention and I think the time is opportune to ask you to look with great attention, together with the University, at some of the widespread herbs and plants used for medicine and other purposes. To this end, he made reference to the “Leaf of Life” which he said, was ascribed to folk medicine.
He recalled that many years ago, in the field of research work, he had collected a good deal of information on the use of various plants and herbs in folk medicine and folk nutrition. At that time, he said he turned the information over to the Chemistry Department of the University of the West Indies. While there might not have been significantly any new discoveries of natural products, Me Seaga said at least it provided some information about Jamaican herbs which were in us in folk life and folk medicine. They all knew of the success stories of the utilization of the by-products of herbs and other plants elsewhere, he said, and he felt that in Jamaica “we have an unexplored field which was worthy of attention”
 
Natural Products, Mr Seaga said had a very close bearing on the major problems of Jamaica which was the producer of agricultural raw material as a primary product. “We often find ourselves being in the capacity of growers of primary products for export overseas where research adds to the diversification in the use of the products and to the improvement of existing usage, all of which stir technology on this country and create employment opportunities and new lines of development”.
He further observed that there was a great role for research based upon primary agricultural products.
 
The Minister said: “I have mentioned these things to indicate to you that while we are thinking of them, there are vast fields of research which are open and with better equipment and more skills to draw upon, countries like Jamaica cold yield a wealth of information in the development of a variety of products”.
 
In closing Mr Seaga welcomed the delegates to the Symposium, and said he was pleased to know that they had come to Jamaica before. “Having been her before you have taken the decision to return, and this is more important to use than to know you are coming here for the first time. I sincerely hope that we may be able to establish rapport and set up a liaison between yourselves and us, as this would be of great benefit in the work which is being carried on here” he said.
 
The Minister was introduced by the Dean of the Faculty of Science, Professor L.J. Haynes who also welcomed the delegates. Present also was the Vice Chancellor of the UWI, Sir Phillip Sherlock.
The Symposium continues until Friday.

The Daily Gleaner, 17th March 1965, page 19
The Daily Gleaner, 15th January 1968, page 19
The Daily Gleaner, 3rd January 1968, page 2
return to Mona Symposium series.
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