Salicylic superman , good known as aspirin , really is a wonder drug . Although most of us use it primarily for underage ache and annoyance , Empirin can also prevent blood clot leading toheart attack and stroke , and may be protective againstcertain malignant neoplastic disease . aid farmers drought - proofread their harvest , on the other hand , is a new one , but scientists at the State University of Paraiba have bear witness it can do just that .
The cowpea ( Vigna unguiculata ) , roll in the hay to North Americans as the sinister - eyed pea , is a staple harvest in parts of Brazil . When drouth total , failure of the cowpea harvest can work suffering to millions . Like all plants , the cowpea plant has mechanism for arrest when conditions are not quite ideal . It develop three enzymes , superoxide dismutase ( SOD ) , catalase ( CAT ) , and ascorbate peroxidase ( APX ) , that help it survive teetotal weather condition .
Dr Alberto Soares de MeloandDr Wellison Filgueiras Dutraexperimented with boost these enzymes through the program of salicylic acid to seed lay on wash paper . Six varieties of cowpea were used , and in each case compared with two controls ; rob the report in purified water and not soak at all . In tour , each of these variety / treatment combination was grow using five unlike water allocations in early growth .
The authors reveal inAgronomy Journalthere were differences in the cowpea response depend on potpourri , but BRS Itaim cultivar , in special , responded to the aspirin with increased production of all three enzymes . The increased drought permissiveness was large enough that it may be worth the cost of processing seeds in this direction , although the researcher say more workplace want to be done to see how much water irrigators can carry through in the orbit .
" The acid could minimize production and productivity losses of cowpea , and other crops , when cultivated under conditions of low or irregular rainfall , such as the Brazilian Northeast , ” Soares de Melo said in astatement .
Many scientists have argued that aspirin is greatly under - explore . It is so wide uncommitted that patent any novel applications is in effect meaningless . accordingly , pharmaceutic companies do n’t drop the money to conduct test on its many suspected benefits . Research , therefore , is restrict to authorities funded mental institution , like university , and to what can be cover by charitable donations .
Given the tremendous cost of clinical trials , such body of work is generally beyond these institutions . fortuitously , however , it is a fate cheaper to study plants than humans – they develop faster and do n’t insist on getting paid to take part in trials – allow the cowpea study to be done .
