‘Earthworm power’ gains momentum

And now, "vermiceuticals".

These are health-enhancing food supplements produced from earthworms, products of scientific headways achieved by the research sector.

"The most exciting and challenging area of earthworm science and technology in the world today is in the discovery, exploration, and production of nutriceuticals or vermiceuticals from earthworms," said Dr. Rafael D. Guerrero III, executive director of the Los Baños-based DOST-Philippine Council for Aquatic and Marine Research and Development (PCAMRD).

Dr. Guerrero reported the strides achieved so far in earthworm R&D in a scientific report titled "Harnessing ‘Earthworm Power’ for Rural Development in the Philippines." He presented the paper at a seminar sponsored recently by the Los Baños-based SEAMEO Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture.

The PCAMRD official reported that there is now a commercial earthworm-based health-enhancing product or food supplement that has been scientifically scrutinized.

Produced in China, it has the brand name Plasmin, which has reportedly been approved by the United States Food and Drug Agency and the Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD) of the Philippines. It is available over-the-counter in leading drugstores.

At present, said Dr. Guerrero, three Filipino scientists are pursuing work in vermiceuticals.

One is Prof. Malou Ang-Lopez of the UP Visayas, who is working on the enzymes of native earthworms and the African nightcrawler. The other is Dr. Flor Merca of the UP Los Baños Institute of Chemistry, who is interested in the lectins of the African nightcrawlers.

The third is Dr. Guerrero, who is in the process of getting BFAD’s approval for the first-ever vermi-based food supplement produced in the Philippines, Vermito. – RAF