31/08/2025
Researchers from the University of Nottingham and Texas Tech University recreated a 1,000-year-old Anglo-Saxon remedy known as "Bald's Eyesalve", which was originally documented in a medieval medical text called Bald's Leechbook.
The salve was a mixture of garlic, onion (or leek), wine, and oxgall (bile from a cow's stomach), and it was used to treat eye infections.
To the scientists' surprise, when they tested the recreated mixture against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) — a notoriously antibiotic-resistant bacterium — it killed about 90% of the bacteria in both in vitro (lab dishes) and in vivo (mouse model) settings.
Importantly, the individual ingredients were far less effective on their own; it was the combination, including the fermentation and aging process, that yielded potent antibacterial effects.
The researchers suggested that the synergistic interaction among the ingredients was crucial, and the mixture disrupted bacterial biofilms — protective layers that make MRSA difficult to treat.
Although the treatment is still under investigation and not yet a substitute for modern antibiotics, it opens new doors in the search for alternative therapies in the face of rising antibiotic resistance.
This study was published in 2015 in the journal Scientific Reports under the title: "A 1,000-Year-Old Antimicrobial Remedy with Antistaphylococcal Activity."
