The Univ of Tokyo: Discovered the antiviral effect of “shell ginger”: Native plants in Okinawa
Okayama Prefectural Institute of Science / University of Tokyo Group
“shell ginger”: application expectation to human
In the plant “shell ginger” which grows naturally in Okinawa Prefecture,
“There is an ingredient that prevents plant virus disease that inhibits the growth of tomatoes and eggplants.”
In addition, it has been confirmed that “the proliferation of influenza A virus is suppressed.”
It is expected to be applied to humans in the future.
“shell ginger” is:
“shell ginger” is a perennial of the ginger family.
It is distributed from tropical to subtropical Asia and has a flower bud resembling a peach.
Because the oil from the leaves has a sweet smell, it is used as a raw material for aroma oil.
In Okinawa, rice cakes are wrapped or dried to make tea.
“shell ginger”: antiviral component
The juice squeezed from the stems and leaves of the moon peach was diluted with water and sprayed on the leaves of solanaceous plants to rub the plant virus.
However, solanaceous plants did not become infected after more than 10 days.
Tomato,
cucumber,
The effect has been confirmed for Chinese cabbage.
“shell ginger”: Influenza A virus
Mix influenza A virus and antiviral components of “shell ginger”.
In experiments that infected dog cells, the virus was almost 100% suppressed.
Plant virus disease: use of antiviral components
According to the research institute, plant virus diseases have so far had few effective pesticides.
Once infected, leaves and nuts can become discolored or malformed, resulting in a large drop in yield.
The global damage caused by plant virus diseases is about 6 trillion yen annually, and it is more than 100 billion yen in Japan.
In the future, we plan to commercialize pesticides using this antiviral component.
This antiviral component: naturally derived
At the same time, research on application to avian influenza virus / porcine cholera virus will be promoted.
This antiviral component is of natural origin.
There is no harm if humans take it into the body.
(Sanyo Shimbun Digital)
https://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20200326-00010001-sanyo-sctch