Officials from two leading institutes under the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) have confirmed the efficacy of Tetrapleura tetraptera, popularly known as ‘Prekese’, in controlling high blood pressure, a major cause of death in the country.
They are Food Research Institute (FRI) and Forest Research Institute (FRI).
The heads of the two institutions, Prof. Charles Torto of Food Research and Prof. Daniel Ofori of Forestry Research, confirmed this when the Ministry of Science and Technology appeared before Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee yesterday (Feb. 3).
Other agencies that appeared before the PAC were the Building and Roads Research Institute, Soil Research Institute, Crop Research Institute, National Population Council, Ghana AIDS Commission and Ghana Supply Company.
Native plant
Responding to a question from Dr James Klutse Awedzi, the Chairman of the PAC, Prekes, Prof, began by explaining that Tarto is one of the many indigenous plants found in the country.
“With the information we have about Precase, we’ve got studies to say it’s very good for health and it’s very good for people with high blood pressure and it controls (their high blood pressure) and it works. .
“So at our facility, we have this product from our sister organization, the Forest Research Institute, which is giving us samples that we sell and so we take the prekes syrup that we sell in our store to the public,” he said. He said.
When asked again by Dr Avedzi whether the product was mass produced for public access, Prof. Torto said it was produced at FRI in Kumasi and FRI took samples from it to sell to the public.
Support
Responding to Dr Avedzi’s question whether FRI needs support to produce more prekes syrup, Prof. Ofori said yes, “Please we need support to build a bigger facility and then we need support to import some of the equipment we need. Processing of Prekes Syrup.”
He said if FRI gets some facilities or support from the government or the private sector it will go a long way to help.
Although there is precase syrup in the market produced by some individuals, “the quality that people attest to is that CSIR precase syrup is better,” he said.
Confirmation
Throwing further light on the health benefits of the product in an interview with Daily Graphic, Prof.
“So this is confirmation from our customers and this leads to more people coming to us to ask for the syrup so it is confirmed to have health benefits. But we sell it as a dietary supplement and not as a medicine,” he stressed.
Elaborating further, he said that the syrup has also received Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval and the authority number can be found on it.
“So it has gone through screening and has been approved by the FDA,” he said, adding that large-scale production at this time required capital to set up a large factory.
When asked to confirm whether Prekase really reduces high blood pressure, Prof. Ofori gave a simple but instructive answer: “Yes”.
Declining fortunes
Earlier, Prof. Torto told the committee, among other things, that during the year under review 2019, the company’s commercialization surplus was reduced due to challenges faced during its commercial activities.
Mainly, he said, its processing equipment was using its old equipment and had to face downtime challenges.
Explaining why FRI moved from surplus to deficit between 2017 and 2018, Prof. Ofori said donor funding for 2018 was low.
He said that in 2018 also, the institution had to undertake a lot of repairs and maintenance.
The PAC sat for two weeks to consider the Auditor-General’s report on the public accounts of public boards, corporations and other statutory bodies for the year ending 2020.
Source: graphic.com.gh
Disclaimer: The views expressed herein are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the views of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility, legal or otherwise, for the accuracy of their content. Please report any inappropriate content to us and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. |
Featured video