Doctors decipher old healing powers of normal bananas

Better wound healing: Banana peels instead of patches?

Bananas are not only delicious, they are also very healthy. The fruits are rich in minerals and vitamins and ensure a fast energy boost. In some poorer countries, the banana is also used for wound healing. Researchers in Germany have now taken a closer look at the healing power of the fruit.

Home remedies for the treatment of simple wounds

After minor injuries one often gets the advice to try it with salt, because salt water accelerates wound healing. Others recommend treating wounds with fresh garlic. With superficial, slightly oozing and less bleeding wounds, zinc can contribute to better healing. And in many developing countries, open wounds are covered with banana leaves rather than a patch, so even larger wounds can be treated successfully.

Bananas are not only tasty, they can also heal. For example, wounds can be successfully treated with banana leaves or peels. Researchers have now taken a closer look at the healing power of the fruit. (Image: nata_vkusidey / fotolia.com)

Identified 70 different ingredients

A team of scientists at the private Jacobs University Bremen around chemistry professor dr. Nikolai Kuhnert has now taken a closer look at the healing power of bananas.

As the college reported in a communication published by the "Science Information Service" (idw), the researchers identified 70 different ingredients that might be responsible for wound healing.

The results of the study were recently published in the Journal of Food Measurement and Characterization.

Traditional remedy

The research project was initiated by a visiting professorship funded by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation by the pharmacist from Nigeria, Prof. Dr. med. Mubo Sonnibare at Jacobs University.

Bananas are traditional remedies in Western Africa and much of Asia.

However, these are not the usual in German supermarkets Cavendish banana, which is attributed no healing power, but Musa acuminata, another type of plant.

Antibacterial and disinfecting

The fruit is characterized - as well as coffee or tea - by many polyphenolic, ie aromatic compounds. Some of them are antibacterial and disinfecting, which helps to protect a wound from bacterial infections.

Others have an astringent, astringent effect - an effect that can be felt on the tongue, for example. When these compounds hit the skin, they change their proteins and form a kind of protective layer over the wound, the message says.

In order to determine exactly, which healing power the individual connections have, further, time-consuming attempts would have to be carried out, because for the wound healing a whole set of factors plays a role.

"Through research, we have gained a deeper understanding of a traditional medicine," says Kuhnert. (Ad)