Scientists Discover First ‘Virological Penicillin’(Honeysuckle)

Sci-News.com ^ | 10/14/2014 | Natali Anderson

[tired&retired]

Chinese researchers have discovered what they say is the first ‘virological penicillin’ – MIR2911, a molecule found naturally in a Chinese herb called honeysuckle.

Honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica) is a well-known Chinese herb. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, it has been used to effectively treat influenza infection for centuries.

Several previous studies have confirmed that the herb, usually consumed in the form of a tea, can suppress the replication of influenza virus.

However, the active anti-viral components and the mechanism by which they block viral replication have remained unclear.

Now, a team of researchers headed by Dr Chen-Yu Zhang of Nanjing University in China has identified MIR2911 (honeysuckle-encoded atypical microRNA2911) as the first active component directly targeting various influenza viruses, including the swine flu H1N1, highly pathogenic avian H5N1 and H7N9 infections.

[Ellendra]

2 cups blossoms
2 cups water
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Sugar to taste
sugar-free pectin

(I use the sugar-free pectin because it lets me control the sweetness. It gels up fine with or without sugar. Also useful if you want to make a batch using artificial sweeteners.)

Simmer blossoms in water for 10 minutes. Strain. Add lemon juice and sugar and bring up to a boil until sugar dissolves. Add pectin and finish according to package directions.

This can be used with any type of edible blossoms. I’ve used it with dandelions before, but I haven’t experimented with any other blossoms yet, simply because we don’t eat a lot of jelly in our house.

(Side note: The liquid may go through a dramatic color change during the process. Don’t be alarmed if it’s dark evergreen before you add the lemon juice. It will change, trust me.)

[Ellendra]

I wonder if they make the tea from the leaves or the flowers and is it a safe thing to do at home? Just wondering.

I'll dig through my books and get back to you about the leaves. The blossoms are fairly safe, but if you're going to be ingesting a lot of them make sure you bring them up to a simmer at some point. The toxin is mild, and is destroyed by heat.

[Ellendra]

Red berried honeysuckles do have poisonous berries, but they taste so aweful there’s not much chance of being poisoned by them.

Many years ago I learned an important lesson on plant identification that way :)

[Ellendra]

We suggest that as the first natural product to directly target IAVs,

That part, they got wrong:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3056848/

[Smokin' Joe]

You’re Welcome, Alamo-Girl!