Innovation of the Agricultural University of Athens: “Arethousa”, the First Greek Oregano Variety, Established in Northern Evia

The Institute for the Study and Promotion of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (In.MAP) of the Agricultural University of Athens (AUA) announces an important innovation with the establishment of the cultivation of “Arethousa”, the first certified Greek oregano variety. The cultivation was established in Northern Evia, in the Municipality of Mantoudi–Limni–Agia Anna, by producer and agronomist Mr. K. Kentepozidis, a postgraduate student at the Agricultural University of Athens, within the framework of a collaboration between AUA and the organic nursery BIOMA. The variety “Arethousa” is the outcome of a long term research conducted by In. MAP – AUA, highlighting a significant milestone in the development and promotion of Greek medicinal and aromatic plants.

“Arethousa” is registered in the National Catalogue of Cultivated Plant Varieties of the Hellenic Ministry of Rural Development and Food, as well as with the Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO – A202303129), and is currently in the process of obtaining European-level Intellectual Property Rights.

The development of the variety was based on an integrated scientific, institutional, entrepreneurial, and legal approach, aiming at the production of certified organic propagation material that is botanically and chemotypically controlled, the sustainable cultivation and processing of final products, and their successful commercial exploitation, with quality assurance provided by In.MAP – AUA.

The Agricultural University of Athens innovates by introducing to the market, for the first time, a controlled and certified Greek oregano variety, strengthening the Greek identity and competitiveness of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants in both national and international markets.

The Board of Directors of InFAP, and in particular its Director, Ms. Garyfalia Oikonomou, and its Members, Mr. Petros Tarantilis and Mr. Kostas Tsiboukas, would like to warmly thank the Rectorate Authorities of AUA, the Research Committee – ELKE, and the Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Technology Transfer Office “InnovinAgri” for their continuous and decisive support and contribution to the progress of the project and to all the activities of the Institute.