The flora of Britain's most northerly populated island could hold the secret of survival for the remote community.  The island of Unst, part of the Shetland Islands has a rich natural heritage which could be used more widely.

Shetland Enterprise, which is part of the Highlands and Islands Enterprise network, commissioned a report to determine what indigenous plants could be identified with a view to developing them commercially and boosting the local economy and job opportunities.

The research was carried out by the Agronomy Institute of Orkney College - and it found a number of plants which could have potential in the food, flavourings and cosmetics markets.

The Institute studied plants, including liverworts, mosses, and ferns and identified the plants which would be of most use.

The research identified 275 plants suitable for a variety of uses.  Seventy were suitable for agricultural or horticultural plants; 104 for cosmetics; 26 for essential oils; 187 for food; 227 for medicinal purposes; 112 containing toxic substances and 112 for other purposes such as cloth, basketry, inks or papers etc.

The food, flavourings and cosmetics markets were considered to be potentially the most promising and a database of the plants most suited to these markets was then compiled.  These plants were Yarrow, Meadowsweet, Water Mint, Spearmint, Sweet Cicely, Stone Bramble, Wild Thyme and Blaeberry.

Shetland Enterprise is interested in gauging the commercial use of the plants by bringing interested small and medium enterprises (SMEs), the report's authors and potential end users together.

Dr John French, director of the Agronomy Institute at Orkney College said: "The outcome of the study into Unst Plants has been particularly fascinating, it has revealed a significant number of plants, many forgotten, that have uses in all sorts of modern applications.

"These range from pharmaceutical and nutraceutical uses through to flavourings, ingredients and textile dyes.  The next and exciting phase in the work will be to identify some of the Shetland based companies who would like to make use of these findings in new product development, possibly as part of the Shetland Brand."

Rachel Stove, development manager at Shetland Enterprise said: "We hope that the information contained in this report will stimulate businesses and individuals to develop products using Shetland's native plants and their extracts.  We would be eager to hear from businesses or individuals who have any development ideas, especially in the food and drink and cosmetics sector."

If you are interested in obtaining a copy of this report and meeting the authors please contact Rachel Stove at Shetland Enterprise on 01595 693177 or contact rachel.stove@hient.co.uk