By ages, amber was a prized commodity desired mainly for its beauty and used in jewellery. It was considered curiosity because of its electrostatic properties and was also believed to have medicinal properties against many ailments. Thus, the English encyclopaedist E. Chambers wrote that “In times of Plague, those who work in Amber at Koningsberg are said to be never infected”. Despite the rich repertoire of folk tales regarding the use of amber in healing, the pharmacology of amber has not been investigated using the modern scientific method. The present study found that extract of Baltic amber does indeed have a strong and selective antibacterial activity, making it an attractive candidate for medicinal using, especially in the treatment of antibiotic – resistant bacterial infections.

Scientific field

Medicine

Country

Poland

Contestants

Igor Kaczmarczyk