Antiprotozoal and antimycobacterial activities of Persea americana seeds

Jiménez-Arellanes A, Luna-Herrera J, Ruiz-Nicolás R, Cornejo-Garrido J, Tapia A, Yépez-Mulia L
BMC Complement Altern Med. 2013 May 16;13:109
PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3663756

Adelina Jiménez-Arellanes of the Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, with coauthors from the Instituto Politécnico Nacional and UIM en Enfermedades Infecciosas y Parasitarias evaluated extracts of avocado seeds for activity against Giardia lamblia, Entamoeba histolytica and Trichomonas vaginalis infection and against drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

The authors note that seeds of Persea americana are widely used in traditional Mexican medicine:

“Persea americana Mill. (Lauraceae) is an edible fruit commonly known as aguacate (avocado) that grows throughout the tropics. The seeds (crude or toasted) are employed in traditional Mexican medicine to treat skin rashes, diarrhea, and dysentery caused by helminths and amoebas, for the cure of infectious processes caused by fungi and bacteria, as well as for the treatment of asthma, high blood pressure, and rheumatism. The seeds of P. americana used alone or mixed with other species, such as Psidium guajava, Mentha piperita or Ocimum basilicum, are mainly employed for the treatment of diarrhea.”

In this first study to evaluate the activity of extracts from P. americana seeds against the organisms that cause giardiasis, amoebiasis, trichomoniasis and drug-resistant tuberculosis, the team verified they are indeed active against G. lamblia (giardiasis) and E. histolytica (amoebiasis), and that the seeds may be a source of potential molecules against drug-resistant species of M. tuberculosis as well.

The authors recommend further studies to identify the active compounds responsible for the antiprotozoal and antimycobacterial activity they observed with extracts obtained from avocado seeds. They are currently working on isolation and identification of the active compounds responsible for the activity they observed against M. tuberculosis.

Read the complete article at PubMed Central.

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