Apocynum venetum, A Bast Fiber Plant With Medicinal Significances and Potentials for Drought Tolerance and Phytoremediation Studies – A Review

A. venetum is highly valuable medicinal plant explore mostly in China and Japan owing to its diverse herbal function in the treatment of a number of ailments. Despite being more popular for the medicinal function, it has an appreciable amount of fiber with a potential significance of complementing cotton, ramie, and other fiber plants. Fabric made from A. venetum fiber is reported to emit infra-red rays of about 8–15 µm wavelength and efficiently resist ultraviolet light – properties that made it a good choice in the industries for making underwear. Presence of small openings in the fiber microstructure permitting air circulation and improves dryness was found helpful in hypertension and coronary heart diseases. Due to its higher modulus and work rupture property, it is commonly blended with cotton or chemical fibers. Besides, the plant with higher lithium accumulation capability is a candidate for remediation of soil from heavy metals and its drought-tolerant nature can as well be exploited for breeding purpose of food/cash crop through gene mining.