Chive research catches Goliath’s eye

A story in the April 23 issue of WebMD begins, “Salmonella, a common bacterial cause of food poisoning, may have met its match in chives, a common herb. Scientists in Greensboro [found that] chive extract showed ‘strong antibacterial activity’ against 38 strains of salmonella... They included Salam Ibrahim, PhD, of the food science and nutrition department at North Carolina A&T State University.”

One reviewer calls WebMD “the Goliath of general health Web sites” because it “reaches 18 to 20 million people every month.” Ibrahim and his research team’s chive research caught the attention of WebMD after findings were presented at the American Chemical Society's National Meeting & Exposition in Atlanta in late March. Ibrahim’s research joined news of a grape seed extract that may lower blood pressure, a licorice root compound that seems to influence prostate cancer, and an appetite suppressant that comes from pine nuts on a select list of ACS meeting highlights that was released to news media.

Dr. C. W. Seo of the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences was also part of the research team that has been studying the antibacterial activity of chives. Seo and Ibrahim were also part of a team presenting a paper at the ACS meeting on research into inhibiting salmonella and E. coli, and another on promoting bifidobacteria and Lactobacillus reuteri. Ibrahim also worked with researchers from Southern Illinois University and Rush University Medical Center in Chicago on research, presented at the ACS meeting, into the effects of fish and linseed oil supplements on cows’ milk.

Posted April 26, 2006 04:25 PM

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