Shikimic acid is the main starting material of Tamiflu , the #1 doctor-prescribed flu drug. Roche, the maker of Tamiflu is in continued battle to meet the market’s demand for for the flu drug: increasing external contractors and finding news methods to produce shikimic acid.
Shikimic acid is currently almost exclusively obtained from the pods of star anise, a fruit found mainly in China and whose availability went down due to the demand for flu drugs.
However, researchers have discovered that shikimic acid can also be extracted from the seeds of the sweetgum fruit, which is abundant in North America. Shikimic acid can be found in the leaves and bark of the sweetgum tree, but it is most abundant in the fruit. Read more.
Photo Credit: UF SFRC
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