September 22, 2003 – Modern scientific tests confirm the effectiveness of two herbs used by African healers to accelerate the healing of wounds.
British and Ghanaian researchers have looked at the Gabon tulip tree (Spathodea campanulata) and secamone afzelii (Asclepiadacea), plants that shamans in Ghana turn into paste and apply to wounds to hasten healing. They tested its effectiveness against four strains of bacteria as well as against candida albicans, the fungus responsible for an infection called candidiasis.
Researchers have found that these two plants have antibiotic, antifungal and antioxidant properties. Secamone afzelii is particularly rich in vitamin E, a well-known antioxidant.
The results of their research have not been published, but were made public at the British Pharmaceutical Conference.
The study of traditional remedies by modern scientists remains a thorny subject. Recently, indigenous people from Chiapas took advantage of a World Trade Organization meeting in Mexico to denounce the exploitation of their ancestral knowledge for commercial purposes by pharmaceutical companies.
However, several initiatives have recently emerged to protect the knowledge of shamans (see the articles in PasseportSanté.net on this subject, dated March 19, 2003 and June 17, 2003).
In the case of the Gabon tulip tree and secamone afzelii, the researchers say the ultimate goal of their study was not commercial. Rather, they say, they wanted to scientifically verify the therapeutic virtues of various plants in order to help the people of Ghana make a better informed choice, since they often have no choice but to use medicinal plants.
Jean-Benoit Legault – PasseportSanté.net
According to BBC News; September 22, 2003.
