Daffodils could help to fight climate change
Daffodils are blooming, yellow trumpets brilliant in the spring sunshine. But these are more than outstanding flowers because an extract of daffodil bulbs is being used to test if it can reduce the harmful methane gas given off by cattle that makes a significant contribution to climate change.
The active ingredient being investigated in daffodils is called haemanthamine, and minute quantities of the pure drug curb the bacteria in cattle that produce methane, a potent greenhouse gas with levels in the atmosphere that are increasing relentlessly. Methane is over 80 times more powerful at climate warming than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period.
When scientists at Scotland’s Rural College fed cattle the haemanthamine extract from daffodil bulbs it helped to reduce the methane given off from the animals by 20 per cent. It also encouraged the cattle to eat more, so they grew faster and matured earlier, which would be a huge benefit to farmers, as well as reducing the greenhouse gas emissions. The extract will now be tested at a few dairy farms in England and Wales and if successful will be scaled up.
Agriculture is under pressure to help to curb its climate change contributions and the Climate Change Committee, which advises the government on cutting greenhouse gas emissions, has called for a transformation in agriculture, recommending a 27 per cent cut in the number of cattle and sheep, and also that we eat less meat and dairy.
An interesting aspect of the daffodil research is that haemanthamine is a by-product of galantamine production, which is used to treat mild to moderate dementia. Galantamine has also been assumed to be the ingredient from the plant in ancient Greek mythology that saved Odysseus from the mental anguish suffered by his shipmates on Circe’s island.
Another related drug to haemanthamine is the compound narciclasine, extracted from Narcissus poeticus, a relative of daffodils and used by ancient Greek physicians. Narciclasine has been found to suppress the growth of a specific aggressive, inoperable cancer and the drug is now being tested on patients.