The first database for the country’s 135 aromatic plants species is being developed at UAE University.

 

The database is part of a student’s research project and will open new horizons for using the plants in different industries, particularly medicine, nutrition and cosmetics, said Dr. Mohammed Al Yafihi, associate dean for scientific research and higher studies at the Faculty of Nutrition and Agriculture.

 

Aromatic species represent 20 per cent of desert plants in the UAE.

 

The student behind the database, Suzanne Chahine, said she has been working on her project for more than two years now.

 

Many endemic local endemic plants in the desert require further research on their characteristics, she said, according to the paper. (The National)