水仙花是威爾士的國花，在水仙花中發(fā)現(xiàn)的一種物質(zhì)，或許可以用于治療阿爾茨海默病（AD），這是一種最常見的癡呆，患者伴有記憶喪失。

在東威爾士的Black山區(qū)茁壯成長(zhǎng)的某些特定種類的水仙花，可以產(chǎn)生加蘭他敏，這種藥物可以減輕記憶喪失的癥狀。Cardiff大學(xué)的制造工程中心，與威爾士大學(xué)的草原與環(huán)境研究學(xué)院合作，正在幫助將農(nóng)業(yè)水仙花開發(fā)成為藥用植物。

該中心正在提供從田野中收獲到具有藥理作用產(chǎn)品上市方面全方位的支持。這包括改造植物的生長(zhǎng)，是它們每年生長(zhǎng)超過一次，以及幫助種植者在最合適的時(shí)候收獲植物。

制造工程中心的市場(chǎng)部主任Frank Marsh指出：“加蘭他敏具有重大的投資價(jià)值，而且威爾士山區(qū)農(nóng)場(chǎng)的潛能巨大。獲益將是極其廣泛的，而并不僅僅是對(duì)威爾士的生物科學(xué)和制藥工業(yè)帶來利益。”

Daffodils to Treat Alzheimer’s
 
A substance found in daffodils, the national flower of Wales, may help treat patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the most common form of dementia that is accompanied by loss of memory.

Certain daffodil species, which thrive in the Black Mountains of eastern Wales, produce galanthamine, a drug designed to alleviate loss-of-memory symptoms. The Manufacturing Engineering Center of Cardiff University (Wales, UK;) is helping to develop the agricultural potential of the daffodil as a medicinal plant, along with the Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research at the University of Wales, Aberystwyh (UK).

The center is providing support ranging from harvesting in the field to marketing the pharmaceutical product. This includes assisting with the science of developing crops more than once a year and helping growers to assess when is the best time to harvest the crop.

“Galanthamine has major investment potential,” stated Frank Marsh, marketing director of the Manufacturing Engineering Center. “Furthermore, the potential for Welsh hill farms is huge. The benefits are extensive, not only to Welsh bioscience and the pharmaceutical industry.