Researchers "accept" Ashanti wound-healing technique

Researchers at King?s College London claim that plants used by one of the largest ethnic groups in Ghana, the Ashantis, helped wound-healing.

An extract of Commelina diffusa, or climbing dayflower, was shown to have both antibacterial and antifungal properties.

Prof Houghton, head of the research team, said: ?This activity indicates that the plant is useful in helping wounds to heal and stopping them getting infected.?

The project was a joint work between King?s College and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana, looking at the properties of some plants used by the Ashantis to heal wounds.

The results of their experiments were presented at the British Pharmaceutical Conference in Manchester, yesterday.

Curry-leaf tree and diabetes

Research also found that the curry-leaf tree, which is used in traditional Indian medicine and is found in many curry dishes, could aid people with diabetes.

Diabetics do not produce enough insulin to cope with rapid rises in blood glucose levels, but extracts from the curry-leaf tree were found to slow the rate of starch breakdown, leading to a more even trickle of glucose into the bloodstream.

Professor Peter Houghton, said: ?The curry-leaf is used to control diabetes in traditional Indian medicine.

?It is not an uncommon ingredient in some curries and it is quite possible that people who take this regularly as part of their diet could control diabetes.

?Any food which has this curry-leaf in could be helpful to people with diabetes.?

Thai and Chinese plants in cancer treatment

Plants used in Thai traditional medicine and in Chinese traditional medicine for treatment of cancer ?do appear to have anti-cancer activity?, said Prof Houghton.

Laboratory tests found that extracts from the Thai plant Ammannia baccifera and the Chinese plant Illicium verum inhibited the growth of cancer cells.

Prof Houghton said: ?Some promising activity was seen against lung cancer cells.?

He told the British Pharmaceutical Conference in Manchester that there was ?scientific justification? for the use of such treatments, but said that full clinical tests would have to be carried out.

He added: ?There are people who have been using these plants for centuries and that is an indication that they could have an effect.?