“What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered.”- Ralph Waldo Emerson
Considered a useless weed or a pest in many parts of the world, it is viewed with a lot more kindness here in India where it has been used in folklore practices for hundreds of years for wound healing, diabetes, arthritis amongst others.
In Ayurveda, silver has been used in the form of Bhasma (calcined formulation) for thousands of years. Infants in India are fed water from a silver bowl using a silver spoon. This is known to build immunity and help fight seasonal infections. The recent advancements in nanotechnology have only helped provide scientific evidence to age old customs followed in India. The extremely small size of nanoparticles results in the particles having a large surface area relative to their volume. Silver nanoparticles have been studied for their antimicrobial potential and have proven to be antibacterial agents and antiviral agents. The leaf extract of Tridax procumbens has been successfully used for biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles in a cost effective and time conserving manner.
Nature has provided us cures for every disease in one way or another but the only need is to explore them. Maybe the remedy to the Covid 19 virus rests in some such neglected plant that we consider a weed.
Tridax procumbens / Tridax daisy
Hindi : घमरा
Sanskrit : Jayanti Veda
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Home, Kahun Road, Pune(India)
July 2020