Indore: For ages, we have heard about use of Indian spices for curing ailments. Now, research proves their abilities like fighting cancer, controlling cholesterol, antifungal properties and more. This was discussed at the one-day national conference organised on the theme, ‘Global Perspective towards Green Pharmacy and Modern Era of Phyto-Pharmaceuticals’ by All India Technical Education and Smriti College of Pharmaceutical Education on Saturday.
About 135 research papers from all over the country were presented in the paper presentation competition showing use of different biological components for curing ailments. The research paper presented will be published in the International Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Research after the conference.
Some interesting researches presented were:
Turmeric cures cancer & osteoarthritis
It contains a yellow-coloured chemical called curcumin, which is often used to colour foods and cosmetics. Turmeric is commonly used to cure pain, inflammation, osteoarthritis. Research shows it can fight and cure cancer.
Conifer derived cure for cancer
Taxol, an antimitotic agent used to treat cancer, blocks cancer cell growth by stopping cell division, resulting in cell death. An NCI-funded clinical trial found that 30 per cent of patients with advanced ovarian cancer responded positively to taxol treatment. This agent is found in a conifer named taxus brevifolia nutt.
Control cholesterol with onion
Onion is a good source of bioactive compounds such as flavonoids, organosulfur compounds (OSCs), fructans and fructooligosaccharides (FOS). Onion has been described to have several health benefits. An antioxidant, it has anti-carcinogenic, hypolipidemic, hypoglycaemic, or anti-aggregantory effects.
Lemon, garlic & orange extract
A research paper showing antifungal properties of biological active components from lemon, garlic and orange was also presented.
Takeaways
Pharmacy Council of India vice president Shailendra Saraf cited the need of using Ayurvedic treatment and having collaborations with companies to utilise spices for medicinal cure.
College principal Dr Nilesh Malaviya said purpose of the conference was to promote green pharmacy in the modern era and to give a new platform to researchers, herbalists, teachers and students. Over 300 representatives of educational and industrial sector participated in the conference.
The keynote speakers included dean and principal, School of Pharmacy, ITM, Vadodara, Vimal Kumar Jain, Dr Deepender Singh from Pandit Ravi Shankar Shukla, Raipur, and Amity University, Noida, joint head Dr Tanveer Naved.
