As the world is frantically searching for a cure for rampaging global pandemic; Coronavirus, hope is coming from the Middle East as a consultant for Internal Medicine and Digestive system at the Thunyan Al-Ghanem Centre at the Amiri Hospital, in Kuwait, Dr. Fahd Al-Najjar confirmed that scientific studies have proven that Moloikhia leaves scientifically known as Corchorus Olitorius contains a substance known as Flavnoid that can stop the spread of coronavirus.
Corchorus Olitorius is Jute leaves, otherwise known as Ewedu in Yoruba and a Nigerian Don, Prof Jesse Otegbayo, the chief medical director of the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, who tested positive for coronavirus in March attested to the efficacy of ewedu in his battle against the virus.
So also, in 2014, a consultant at LUTH in Idi Araba, Prof Adebukola Ositelu said Ewedu has a high potency to boost the immune system and thereby recommended it as a potential cure for ebolavirus especially at an early stage of infection.
Otegbayo said regular intake of a local meal; amala, gbegiri and ewedu soup helped him fight coronavirus infection.
According to reports by Al-Rai daily, Flavoid helps zinc to enter into coronavirus infected cells and prevents the reproduction mechanism of its RNA genetic materials to stop the virus from reproducing inside the body.
The newspaper quoted Dr. Najjar, in response to a question raised about a popular Egyptian meal called “Shilo” and its prominent molokhia ingredients that “flavonoid substance contained in Molokhia and other plants like parsley, coriander, dill and cranberries with a high concentration in growing capers buckwheat tea, help zinc to enter the virus-infected cell.
Najjar added that Flavonoid, according to what is seen in scientific research, is used by the element zinc to enter the inside of the viral cell and these keys are called Ionophore, which is the same way which is the same way in which antimalarial drugs, chloroquine and hydrochloroquine have proven successful against coronavirus.
