Question

Ancient Egyptians applied mouldy bread on infected cuts & wounds to heal them , why do you think this helps in healing the wounds. Now a days we do not use mouldy breads to cure infections. what do we use instead ?

Answer 1

Mouldy bread:

1. The bacterial infection on the cut and exposed wound is common.
2. The bread mould in the mouldy bread is generally a fungus.
3. Examples of common mould fungi are Penicillium, Aspergillus, Rhizopus, etc.
4. These fungi produce certain chemicals which kill or inhibit the growth of the bacteria.
5. Ancient Egyptians were familiar with these properties of the bread mould and used it to apply on infected cuts & wounds to heal them.

Discovery of the antibiotic:

1. Later in 1928, Alexander Fleming put an end to the application of such uses, by dicovering the exact reason behind it and by extracting out that chemical out of the mould fungi Penicillium.
2. He called it antibiotic and the name of the first antibiotic was penicillin, which was more concentrated and effective than the mouldy bread.
3. Thus, it could be applied on the infections and wounds to heal them more effectively and faster.