Home remedy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Home remedy - Essay Example In this essay some ingredients commonly available will be described with reference to their medicinal value. Honey is a natural sweet material that is produced by honey bees from the secretions of various parts of living plants. It is defined as "the nectar and saccharine exudation of plants, gathered, modified and stored as honey in the honeycomb by honeybees, Apis melifera" (Olaitan, Adeleke, Oha, 2007). Many published studies have proved that honey application to wounds clears the infection of the wounds rapidly without any prolongation in wound healing. Infact, there are some reports that honey promotes active wound healing. Research in the antimicrobial action of honey has shown that the substance has many antimicrobial properties against various bacteria like pseudomonas aeruginosa which is resistant to antibiotics (Olaitan et al, 2007). Researchers are often perplexed by the beneficial effects of honey because it is the medium for many organisms like bacteria and yeast. The material is made up of mainly water and sugar. Other than these compounds, honey also has minerals, enzymes wh ich have their origin from the saliva of the bees, and multivitamins. Honey has a characteristic taste and composition. It is highly viscous, acidic, hygroscopic and hyperosmolar (Olaitan et al, 2007). Thus the microorganisms which are present in honey are those which survive the physical and chemical properties of honey. They are mainly bacteria like Bacillus and Micrococcus and yeast like saccharomyces which come from bees, nectar and comb material (Olaitan et al, 2007). Research has shown that most of these microorganisms are in the dormant stage in the material and cannot grow or reproduce in that medium (Olaitan et al, 2007). Majority of these bacteria lose viability within 1-4 weeks (Olaitan et al, 2007). Those who continue to survive are spore forming organisms like clostridium species and bacillus cereus which can