This information was compiled from research on National Institutes of Health (USA) website, with thanks to tremendous work by Vicki Parsons of Neem Tree Farms. With Vicki's permission, we post this here because of our commitment to the continuing education of us all.

We urge everyone to please consult a professional health care practitioner to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent disease. None of these statements have been evaluated or approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Some of the research included in these compilations was performed on animals. At Organix-South we do not support, sponsor or condone this animal research and provide it as a reference of research already performed. While worldwide scientific research around neem and other herbs continues, we want to acknowledge the critical importance and value of traditional herb lore, and all the people who have for generations studied, researched and handed down first hand information about herbs.

Separate reports on each of these topics provide the latest information from the NIH site, along with a brief overview that explains the basic concepts. But while neem has been in continual use for thousands of years, it is a potent herb. Please read our download on safety before starting any program using neem.

Organix-South does not sell products which are intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease, or repel or kill any insect on humans, animals or plants. The research presented on this page is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. The statements have not been evaluated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Whenever possible, links to abstracts published by the National Institutes of Health (a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) are provided. However, some of the earlier research is not available online and appropriate footnotes have been provided. Research was gratefully assembled and posted with permission by Vicki Parsons with Neem Tree Farms.

ALWAYS CONSULT WITH YOUR HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONAL BEFORE STARTING ANY NUTRITIONAL, HERBAL, HOMEOPATHIC, OR DIETARY SUPPLEMENT PROGRAM.

The National Institutes of Health, an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and a sister agency to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, has created a database of national and international research journals called MedLine. It includes more than 150 documents on neem. To search for neem and a specific question, type neem AND disorder, i.e., neem AND parasites or neem AND antiviral. MDChoice.com is a privately held company founded by academic physicians and backed by private venture capital. They have developed a unique, patent-pending technology that provides specific, content-focused information from MedLine at the click of a mouse button.

Web   MEDLINE

Excerpted from:
Stix, Gary: "The Village Pharmacy,"Scientific American, page 132 of the May '92 issue. A review of the National Research Council report entitled, "Neem: A Tree For Solving Global Problems."

While the Neem tree has been used intensely for centuries wherever it grows, Western interest did not register until the 1920's. Real interest was peaked in 1959 when a German entomologist, Heinrich Schmutterer, noticed that Neem trees were not consumed by locusts during a plague in the Sudan; characteristically, all other vegetation was stripped to the ground. After Schmutterer's report, research on the Neem tree and its uses became a little industry of its own.

Neem is now gaining acceptance in the West. Neem extracts have been found to be extremely effective against more than 200 arthropod species including, but not limited to, the Mediterranean fruit fly, house flies, fleas, head lice, the Gypsy moth, the Colorado potato beetle, the boll weevil, and cockroaches. This list is a veritable Who's Who of super-resistant insects. As the National Research Council (NRC) points out, Neem has a complex chemical makeup, more than twenty compounds identified to date, which makes developed resistance unlikely. This smacks of 20/20 hindsight since no problem insects in the Orient, where the Neem tree has grown for thousands of years, are known to have developed resistance to it. Neem accomplishes this without committing "ecocide." Mr. Stix points out that birds and bats regularly eat the Neem fruits with no ill effects. They must see the killed insects as a wonderful windfall! He adds that Neem leaves are routinely added to grain stores in India to keep weevils out, with no effect to the grain or the people who eat it.

Medical benefits are vastly claimed but poorly researched. Neem paste is applied to the skins of victims of chicken pox (stops the itching among other benefits) and warts. Several reports document Neem's effect on oral bacteria.

Quietly balancing this very conservative approach is the legendary guru of miracle plants, Noel D. Vietmeyer. Dr. Vietmeyer is a program officer with, and spent 20 years on the Board of Science and Technology for International Development for the NRC. He has "shepherded" the debuts of such plant giants as the jojoba, and amaranth. In the foreword to the NRC's Neem report he insists: "I've never come across a plant with the potential the Neem has." Enough said.

NEEM AND YOU

Neem Oil is used in India and other countries as an additive in many pest inhibitors and organic fertilizers. These are used not only to prevent attacks from harmful pests and nematodes, but also enhance crop yield.
Our Neem oil is very high purity with an azadirachtin content of over 1500 ppm, and guaranteed to be free of Aflatoxin.

Pure Neem oil normally has an azadirachtin content ranging from 0 ppm to 300 ppm. Our Indian supplier has developed a proprietary process for manufacture to offer a guaranteed minimum azadirachtin content of over 1500 ppm when tested. (High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) test certificates accompany every batch).

NEEM FACTS

• Neem grows wild in the Deccan forests of India below altitudes of 3500 feet, as well as the tropical and subtropical regions of Africa, Southeast Asia and Australia.
• Several important triterpenoids contained in neem are azadirachtin, nimbin and salannin.
• Physical characteristics of neem:
  Color: Greenish brown
  Odor: Nutty Garlic

Neem contains an active part made up of about 40 different components. Scientist have identified most of them now, and know their chemical structure. The main component is known as Azadirachtin.

This component is by itself already an effective insect repellent. But better results can be obtained by using the active component in its entirety. A kind of synergistic effect is obtained whereby one component strengthens and increases the working of another.

Many producers artificially enhance azadirachtin levels in their products. Ours, on the other hand, concentrates both azadirachtin and other constituents of the active component, through an entirely natural process, to harness the real power of Neem.

EFFICACY DATA

A field experiment was conducted at Padappai, Tamil Nadu during 1998 to study the efficacy of our Neem Oil against the pests of okra.

Sucking pests: Aphid, Aphis gossypii, Jassid, Amrasca biguttula.
Fruit borers: Earias spp, Helicoverpa armigera

The evaluated neem oil doses were 5, 7, 9 and 11 milliliters per liter of water. A well known Neem formulation (name withheld) was used as the standard for comparison. The study indicated that our Neem Oil was effective in controlling the pests at all the dosages evaluated. This neem oil can be recommended at the rate of 5 ml/l water for the control of okra pests.

(Studies conducted by Fredrick Institute of Plant Protection and Toxicology (FIPPAT), an internationally recognized facility for the evaluation of pesticides).

EPA in the USA

Although we are not permitted to sell pure neem oil for pesticide purposes, clarified hydrophobic extract of Neem oil (Reg No. 11688-8) is exempt from the requirement of tolerance on all agricultural commodities when used as a botanical fungicide, insecticide, or miticide.