Everyone think about antibiotics when it comes to curing the bacteria infected disease. But this life-saving drug has some downsides too, an overdose of antibiotics can kill healthy cells along with infectious bacteria. Even a long term usage can also create Superbugs in which known antibiotics don’t affect anymore.
Now, a research team from McGill University found an alternative way to kill superbugs without disturbing the health. At the 253rd National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS) researchers described that Maple syrup extract can cut down the usage of antibiotic by improving the potentiality of the medicine.
Lead researcher Dr. Nathalie Tufenkji said in a statement,“Native populations in Canada have long used maple syrup to fight infections. I've always been interested in the science behind these folk medicines”. Medical News Today reported that in her previous study she has found anti-cancer properties in the extract of cranberry that made her interested in checking the antimicrobial activity of maple syrup.
At the first stage, Tufenkji separated the sugar and water from the syrup's phenolic compounds and exposed with several bacterial strains that cause various disease. However, she didn’t find any noticeable changes. But when she mixed the phenolic extract with commonly used antibiotics then the antimicrobial potency hiked up.
According to Science Daily, Tufenkji made the mixture with Ciprofloxacin and Carbenicillin for her experiment and noticed the same antimicrobial effect in more than 90 percent fewer antibiotics. That test successfully worked on several bacteria strains including E. coli and Pseudomonas Aeruginosa.
At the second phase of the experiment, researchers tested the effectiveness on fruit flies and moth larvae. The team divided those into two groups dosed their food with and without phenolic extract and antibiotic with pathogenic bacteria in both. The result was stunning, the group with the extract in food lived longer. Tufenkji explained that the syrup extract actually increases the permeability of bacteria that helps antibiotics to gain access to the interior of cells. Now, they are planning to apply the formula on mice before applying on humans and releasing commercially.
