A group of scientists found that an approximately 45 years old Sumatran Orangutan was using the stem and leaves of the liana of Fibraurea tinctoria to treat its facial wound.
The Orangutan was found to be chewing the leaves of the plant without swallowing them, and using his fingers to apply the plant juice onto his facial wound. Pharmacological analysis of the plant being consumed have been found to be rich in furanoditerpenoids, jatrorrhizine, palmatine and protoberberine alkaloids, that have been demonstrated to contain various bioactive compounds capable of antimicrobial, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and other siginficant biological activities. Furthermore, they are also known to actively induce wound healing. Hence, this report is claimed to be the first for active wound management in a great ape species using a natural source of biologically active substances.
Reference:
Laumer, I.B., Rahman, A., Rahmaeti, T. et al. Active self-treatment of a facial wound with a biologically active plant by a male Sumatran orangutan. Sci Rep 14, 8932 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-58988-7
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