Thyme (Thymus vulgaris) has been used for respiratory health for centuries and continues to be widely used today. International health care regulators recognise the significant benefits of thyme and there are many international scientific studies on the properties of thyme – for its antimicrobial and antioxidant actions amongst others.
In 2018, artemis embarked on a three year research project with Plant & Food Research, carried out with Research & Development funding from Callaghan Innovation. The research was commissioned to scientifically investigate the potential respiratory health benefits of wild-grown Central Otago Thyme and to validate artemis’ proprietary harvest and extraction processes.
The first round of results, released in 2019, showed that Central Otago Thyme has significant potential as a natural New Zealand resource to support respiratory health and we are looking forward to continued positive results.
Each year the artemis team harvests the thyme by hand during a very short window of just a few weeks, with the timing governed by nature, when the steep hillsides are a spectacular sight of rich purple and green. To ensure maximum efficacy, the harvest has to coincide with when the plants are producing the highest quantity of active volatives.
As an organisation committed to guardianship – kaitiakitanga – of health and the land, artemis takes great care to harvest in a sustainable way to ensure the land is respected and the thyme continues to flourish year after year.
Proven by tradition. Backed by science.