The Dalamatian pyrethrum has a flower similar to that of the daisy but inside it has an insecticidal active ingredient
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves himThe flower you see in the photo apparently looks like a daisy, but in reality it is not. This is the Pyrethrum of Dalmatia which contains a natural toxin which makes it a powerful insecticide.
For the people who collect it, pyrethrum is absolutely harmless but not so for insects. In fact, the flower, and more specifically its yellow central part, contains a natural toxin they don't like and for this reason it has been used as an effective and ecological insecticide since ancient times.
Discovered in Persia around 400 BC, this flower produces pyrethrin, active ingredient that paralyzes parasites by attacking their central nervous system. This substance can be extracted and used to create natural insecticides that farmers spray on crops to protect them from mites, ants and aphids, without harming people's health or the environment.
The simple cultivation of pyrethrum (Pyrethrum tanacetum or Chrysanthemum cinerariifolium) can also be enough to keep away the parasite-carrying sand flies, whose bite can spread leishmaniasis, a disease that affects nearly a million people worldwide and which can even be fatal if left untreated.
Pyrethrin has also become a powerful tool in the global fight against mosquito-borne diseases such as malaria.
Pyrethrin is the most important insecticide in the world - said Joel Maina Kibett, head of agriculture in Nakuru County (Kenya) - It is natural, organic and has no environmental effects. And it's easy to use.
Since it is now known how much damage chemical pesticides commonly used around the world can do to people's health and the environment, a natural insecticide such as pyrethrum could help in the goal of banning them more and more definitively.
As Ian Shaw, chief executive of Kapi Limited, which produces pyrethrum, explained:
Pyrethrin, which naturally degrades in sunlight and heat, is an environmentally friendly alternative, because after 24 hours there is nothing left.
Studies are currently underway to determine whether pyrethrin can also be used to kill desert locusts that are decimating crops across East Africa.
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Fonte: National Geographic
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