Israeli Researchers Discover Antibiotic Properties in Pepper Plants

PL-18 derived from long Indian pepper may be used to treat bacterial infections and prevent the formation of biofilms.

By Shula Rosen

Researchers at Israel’s Ben Gurion University (BGU) have discovered that an active ingredient in the Indian long pepper plant can disrupt the spreading of bacteria and combat infections.

The Indian long pepper plant, related to the more widely used black pepper, has long been valued in Indian Ayurvedic medicine to treat gastrointestinal problems and cholera.

Professor Ariel Kushmaro of BGU’s Department of Biotechnology Engineering team developed a derivative from the long pepper plant that can prevent and stop infections.

The long pepper plant produces organic compounds known as secondary metabolites that can kill pathogens.

The project’s result was a PL-18 derivative that reduces bacteria’s virulence and disrupts the biofilm comprised of microorganisms that stick to each other.

The project’s conclusion is that PL-18 derived from long Indian pepper may be used to treat bacterial infections and prevent the formation of biofilms.

Additional funding to Ben Gurion University may support further medical research and studies in other fields.

An anonymous Jewish donor has just given Bar-Ilan University the second-largest gift ever received by an educational institution in Israel – $260 million.

One of the few facts the benefactor wants known is that he is a Columbia University alumnus, the university announced.

This set off speculation that his donation is at least partly a reaction to the anti-Israel, violent protests that have rocked the New York school among dozens of other American universities over the course of the Israel-Hamas war, including illegal encampments that were set up on campus for weeks and verbal and physical assaults on Jewish students that made them fear going to class.

Other identifiers were that he is from North America, has visited Israel before, has “a broad academic education” and “participated in World War II,” the university said.

The last point would put the wealthy individual at the centenary mark in terms of age.

“The donor… believed that the development of Israel’s technological resilience rested first and foremost on groundbreaking science,” President Arie Zaban told the school’s board of trustees.