To harness its vast herbal wealth, Brazil has embarked upon mapping the huge untapped potential of its medicinal plants.

An environmental agency of Brazil said it had created the country's first ever database and research centre for medicinal plants. The agency revealed that Brazil has catalogued 300 medicinal plant species, but they represented less than 10 per cent of the country's natural medicine.

The centre will document more herbal remedies and help in preserving and protecting the valuable plant species from biopirates.