Himalayan oregano as MRSA antibacterial agent

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FYI

 

 

Project investigating Himalayan oregano as MRSA antibacterial agent

wins SEED award

nächste Meldung

30.10.2008

 

 

A research team from the University of the West of England, working

in partnership with a laboratory in Delhi, a fair trade company, a

community-based organisation and an environmental research institute

in Himachal Pradesh in the Western Himalaya, have jointly been

awarded a 2008 SEED award for their project investigating Himalayan

oregano essential oil as an antibacterial agent for MRSA.

 

The project is part of an initiative to provide rural communities

with sources of income generated from sustainable collection of non-

timber forest products in the Kullu District of Himachal Pradesh.

Origanum vulgare is a relatively common herb that grows in high

altitude meadows throughout the Himalayan region, yet it is perceived

by many villagers to have no culinary, medicinal or economic value.

In Kullu oregano is often referred to as `bekaar gahaas', or `useless

grass'; even cows and goats don't eat it.

 

Recent research by UWE in the UK and SGS in Delhi has shown that the

essential oil of Himalayan oregano oil contains potent antibacterial

properties and is very effective at killing the hospital superbug

MRSA. These findings have presented a valuable opportunity to develop

a range of antibacterial products that would provide a sustainable

source of income to rural communities in the Himalaya, and at the

same time introduce an environmentally friendly means of helping to

prevent the spread of MRSA in hospitals in the UK.

 

The SEED Initiative is an international programme backed by the UN

that promotes and supports entrepreneurial partnerships that develop

innovative, locally led solutions to the global challenges of

sustainable development. The SEED awards provide backing to projects

that are in an early stage of development and have high potential for

growth and replication. The Himalayan Oregano project was one of five

winners selected from over 400 global applications.

 

Achim Steiner, the Executive Director of UNEP, said of the 2008

awards: " The SEED Awards again underline that creative and

entrepreneurial solutions to many of the pressing challenges facing

the world are being found. It is now vital that these shining

examples are federated and mainstreamed across communities and

countries to maximize their undoubted and potentially significant

impact. "

 

One of the lead partners of the project in India, Biolaya Organics,

is a company that is developing projects aimed at conserving

endangered medicinal herbs, both by cultivating threatened species,

and by providing alternative sources of income to herb collectors

through sustainable collection and value addition of more common

species such as oregano.

 

Ben Heron from Biolaya Organics explains, " We started working with

oregano because it is a species that, if managed properly, can be

collected year after year without depleting the population in the

wild. Our aim is to be able to pay the local herb collectors the

equivalent amount that they would normally earn from collecting

endangered medicinal herb species so that they become less dependent

on the extraction of these plants for their livelihoods.

 

" It has been known for some time that Mediterranean oregano oil is a

powerful antimicrobial, which is said to be due to the high content

of a compound called carvacol. As far as we know nobody has tested

the carvacol content of Himalayan oregano oil before, so we teamed up

with SGS in Delhi to conduct tests and found that it was equally as

potent as the Mediterranean variety.

 

" Further tests in the SGS laboratory found that the Himalayan oregano

oil killed MRSA more effectively than all 18 antibiotics that it was

compared against. We have recently linked up with UWE's microbiology

department who are now carrying out more rigorous tests, and hope to

publish the results in a scientific journal. "

 

UWE's project leader Professor Vyv Salisbury and co-investigator Dr

Shona Nelson are very excited at the opportunity to help the

community. Vyv said, " We have done a few preliminary tests and have

found that the essential oil from the oregano kills MRSA at a

dilution 1 to 1,000. The tests show that the oil kills MRSA both as a

liquid and as a vapour and its antimicrobial activity is not

diminished by heating in boiling water. This is exciting as it also

means that we could consider using the oil to develop disinfectant

washing powders. We now aim to conduct a focused academic study in

partnership with SGS labs in Delhi that we hope will give the project

the academic credence needed to market the oil.

 

" We hope that our study will help take the project to the next stage

where, with the help of UWE's Research, Business and Innovation

department we find a business partner to help us produce a range of

products that we can market for medical and domestic settings. Once

we are able to start providing a sustainable income for villages in

Kullu, the scope for up-scaling and replication in other parts of the

Himalayan region is enormous. "

 

The SEED award will be presented to the team at the SEED award

conference on Monday 17 November, at the German Embassy in Delhi by

the German Minister of Environment, Sigmar Gabriel.

 

Jane Kelly | Quelle: alphagalileo

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