Daffodils to Treat Alzheimer's

A substance found in daffodils, the national flower of Wales, may help treat patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), the most common form of dementia that is accompanied by loss of memory.

Certain daffodil species, which thrive in the Black Mountains of eastern Wales, produce galanthamine, a drug designed to alleviate loss-of-memory symptoms. The Manufacturing Engineering Center of Cardiff University (Wales, UK;) is helping to develop the agricultural potential of the daffodil as a medicinal plant, along with the Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research at the University of Wales, Aberystwyh (UK).

The center is providing support ranging from harvesting in the field to marketing the pharmaceutical product. This includes assisting with the science of developing crops more than once a year and helping growers to assess when is the best time to harvest the crop.

"Galanthamine has major investment potential,” stated Frank Marsh, marketing director of the Manufacturing Engineering Center. "Furthermore, the potential for Welsh hill farms is huge. The benefits are extensive, not only to Welsh bioscience and the pharmaceutical industry but also to the aging population.”





Related Links:
Cardiff University
Univ. of Wales, Aberystwyh