Medieval eye balm ‘outdoes antibiotics’

A 10th century eye balm made of onion, garlic, wine and parts of a cow’s gallbladder could help tackle antibioticresistant infections.

The 1,000-year-old Bald’s eyesalve – taken from a book in the British Library called Bald’s Leechbook – kills bacteria such as those which infect diabetic foot ulcers and burns.

Scientists recreated the recipe by crushing onion and garlic, adding them to bovine bile salts and dry white wine. Artificial wounds were created in the laboratory and infected by a ‘biofilm’ of a different type of bacteria.

Antibiotics can struggle to penetrate these bacteria when they form a slimy film, but the medieval salve got through. It has been christened an ‘ancientbiotic’ and will be tried out on the skin of healthy volunteers. Joint first author Jessica Furner-Pardoe, from the University of Warwick, said: ‘It is described in the book as the “best medicine”.

‘It blows my mind that there is antibiotic resistance – one of the biggest threats humanity faces – and we may have had an answer from 1,000 years ago. ‘And, apart from the bile salts, it uses kitchen cupboard ingredients which everyone has at home.’

Scientists already knew it worked on the hospital superbug MRSA but it also appears to counter bacteria found in the wounds of soldiers back from combat.

The scientists, who published the study in the journal Scientific Reports, will now test it on people’s skin to determine its safety. They stress that it should not be tried at home.