Queensland, Australia
Jnaury 20, 2025
Years of scouring the bush and breeding work at The University of Queensland have resulted in new varieties of a native Australian plant valuable to the global pharmaceutical industry.
Dr Patrick Mason with some samples at UQ. Image: Megan Pope
Postdoctoral Research Fellow Dr Patrick Mason said Duboisia leaves contain high amounts of the alkaloid scopolamine which is an ingredient in medications to treat motion sickness, stomach disorders, and the side effects of cancer therapy.
“This biochemical is in medicines used after general anaesthetic to treat postoperative nausea and vomiting,” Dr Mason said.
“That means a majority of people around the world who’ve had surgery have had Australian Duboisia in their system.
“The industry is desperate for new breeds with higher scopolamine content to expand production and keep up with demand.
“We searched Queensland’s national parks and private land for plants and have produced 700 Duboisia lines in a breeding project.
“A small number of them are now being evaluated further for maximum leaf production while maintaining scopolamine production.
“In the next two years, we should find out if the plants we have produced are comparable or better than those the industry currently grows.
“We are confident there is some good material there.”
Many of the collected plants were cloned by the specialist plant propagation team at the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation, led by Honorary Professor Neena Mitter.
“The team at UQ has an extensive background in this area, so we used their knowledge and expertise to create a tissue culture platform for Duboisia,” Professor Mitter said.
“Once Dr Mason obtained seeds it was important he had enough plants to analyse and test, so we created thousands of plants using tissue culture.
“It’s all about having an assured plant supply of Duboisia varieties with the higher scapolamine content.
“It was also a valuable learning experience to work with industry partner, India Glycols Limited (IGL), and understand the commercial volatility of a valuable pharmaceutical compound.”
The Dubosia project is backed by IGL, a leader in pharmaceutical and nutraceutical ingredients chemicals derived from plants.
IGL’s Executive Director Pragya Bhartia Barwale said the company’s Ennature Biopharma division approached UQ to help it develop a high scopolamine content Duboisia variety.
“By supporting this research, IGL reaffirms its long-term commitment to sustainable innovation in nature-based solutions,” she said.
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