Two common leaves team up to fight fever better than either alone
Medicinal Plants
The papaya tree in a backyard or the srikaya (sugar-apple) growing in a tropical garden might hold more medicinal value together than either does separately, hinting at how traditional plant pairings can outperform single-herb remedies.
Researchers gave mice a fever, then treated them with extracts made from papaya leaves and srikaya leaves, both alone and mixed together. The combination brought temperatures down more effectively than using just one plant, and the best-performing mix worked almost as well as a standard pharmaceutical fever reducer. It suggests these two common tropical plants might work better as a team than as solo remedies.
Key Findings
32 mice were divided into 8 groups to test single-extract, combined-extract, and control treatments using a One-Way ANOVA with Tukey HSD follow-up
The combined ethanol extract of srikaya (Annona squamosa) and papaya (Carica papaya) leaves significantly reduced body temperature versus negative control (p<0.05)
The best-performing combination dose approached the effectiveness of the positive control drug and outperformed either single-plant extract
chevron_right Technical Summary
A lab study found that combining sugar-apple (soursop family) leaf extract with papaya leaf extract lowered fever in mice more effectively than either plant used alone, coming close to matching a standard fever-reducing drug.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Uji Aktivitas Antipiretik Ekstrak Etanol Kombinasi Daun Srikaya (Annona Squamosa L.) dan Daun Pepaya (Carica Papaya L.) terhadap Mencit Putih Jantan (Mus Musculus L.) yang Diinduksi Pepton 5%
Latar Belakang: Demam adalah peningkatan suhu tubuh akibat perubahan titik setel di hipotalamus. Penggunaan antipiretik sintesis jangka panjang berpotensi menimbulkan efek samping, sehingga diperlu...
open_in_new Read full abstractAbstract copyright held by the original publisher.
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