seasons

SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH
Nutrition and Dietetics Chair Studies
Possible Use of Basil Against Diabetes
by Robin DeMonia
Suresh Mathews, professor and chair
of Samford’s Department of Nutrition
and Dietetics, is part of a team of
researchers awarded a prestigious
grant to study basil as a potential
weapon against diabetes.
The $493,892 grant from the USDA
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
will fund a three-year study of the antidiabetic
effects of basil.
“It’s an area ripe for research,” Mathews
said.
Some basil varieties already have been
found to lower blood glucose concentrations
in laboratory animals. But researchers have not
identified the chemicals in basil that produce
the positive effects nor determined how these
compounds work to reduce blood sugar.
Mathews’ study will use a combination
of cellular, molecular, physiological and
animal studies to evaluate the antidiabetic
effects of six species of basil, as well as to
identify the bioactive compounds and mode
of action.
Although oral medications and insulin
are effective in treating diabetes, Mathews
said there is a growing interest in alternative
and complementary therapies for managing
the disease, which affects 347 million people
worldwide, including 29 million Americans.
“In Europe and Asia, complementary
medicine is quite popular,” he said. “In the
U.S., it’s a growing field, and there is more
interest in looking at herbals and bioactives
that may have potential for managing
chronic pain, diabetes and other illnesses.”
Mathews points out that similar
research led to some standard diabetes
therapies in use today.
“The discovery and synthesis of the
widely popular antidiabetic medication
Metformin (Glucophage) can be attributed
Suresh Mathews performs research on the efficacy of basil in treating diabetes.
to early findings of blood glucose-lowering
properties in French lilac plant extracts,”
Mathews said.
The benefits of the basil research could
go beyond the medicinal, he said.
Among the varieties to be studied is
sweet basil, which is commonly found in
gardens and used in kitchens across the
country. But other varieties that will be
studied — including clove basil, hoary basil
and holy basil — could prove more useful in
combating diabetes. If that happens, farmers
could have a new opportunity for a lucrative
cash crop.
In fact, one goal of the research is to
develop sustainable organic production
practices for commercial cultivation of the
selected varieties of basil.
Also participating in the research are
Dr. Rao Mentreddy, professor in the
Department of Biological Sciences at
Alabama A&M University, and Dr. Agnes
Rimando of the USDA’s Agricultural
Research Service.
“I’m really excited about this group. It
involves a partnership with three institutions,
and because of that partnership, we
can do so much more,” Mathews said. “I’m
also excited because we can incorporate this
into the curriculum and involve our
graduate and undergraduate students, who
really want to do this kind of research.” ◗
32 • Seasons • Summer 2016 • College of Health Sciences Newsletter