If you came across a plant in the wilds of India that trapped and ate insects by dissolving them in a broth of treacly nectar and bacteria, your first reaction probably would not be to drink it.
But some locals have been known to do just that, believing juices from the carnivorous pitcher plant Nepenthes khasiana contain healing properties. It turns out, they may be right.
A new study in the Journal of Experimental Biology has found that N. khasiana's innards contain compounds that are natural anti-fungal agents, apparently produced by the plants to prevent fungi from camping out in the pitchers and mooching nutrients from freshly dissolved insects.
Aviah Zilberstein of Tel Aviv University in Israel, who led the study, says the compounds could be immensely useful for treating fungal infections in people. From athlete's foot to skin infections, fungi are notoriously difficult to eradicate once they establish themselves. In hospitals around the world, fungus causes secondary infections that kill thousands of people each year.
It's still early days -- the research team has yet to begin pre-clinical trials on animals -- but the pitcher plant's chemicals aren't toxic to humans (see: locals drinking it). And because of their effectiveness at keeping fungus out of pitcher plants' insides, Zilberstein thinks it would be hard for fungi to evolve resistance to any drug that is eventually developed.
Image: Botanical Survey of India
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