under a neem tree. In 1995, the European Patent Office (EPO) granted a patent on an anti-fungal product derived from neem to the United States Department of Agriculture and W. R. Grace and Company. The Indian government challenged the patent when it was granted, claiming that the process for which the patent had been granted had been in use in India for more than 2,000 years. In 2000, the EPO ruled in India's favour, but W. R. Grace appealed, claiming that prior art about the product had never been published in a scientific journal. On 8 March 2005, that appeal was lost and the EPO revoked the Neem patent. Biotechnology The biopesticide produced by extraction from the tree seeds contains limonoid triterpenes. Currently, the extraction process has disadvantages such as contamination with fungi and heterogeneity in the content of limonoids due to genetic, climatic, and geographical variations. To overcome these problems, production of limonoids from plant cell suspension and hairy root cultures in bioreactors has been studied, including the development of a two-stage bioreactor process that enhances growth and production of limonoids with cell suspension cultures of A. indica. Gallery See also Azadirachtin Ayurveda Arid Forest Research Institute (AFRI) Neem cake Neem oil Babool (brand) of toothpaste Teeth cleaning twig (datun) References External links PDF Copy Invasiveness information from Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk (PIER) Neem information from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR) Contains a detailed monograph on Azadirachta indica (Neem; Nimba) as well as a discussion of health benefits and usage in clinical practice. Plants used in Ayurveda indica Trees of the Indian subcontinent Plants in Hinduism