Screening of Different Homeopathic Preparations Regarding Specific Effects on Cress Seedlings with a CuCl₂-Biocrystallization Assay

The effect of six different homeopathic 30× preparations on germinating cress seedlings (Lepidium sativum L.) has been examined by CuCl₂-biocrystallization in a screening experiment. Cress seeds germinated and grew for 4 days in vitro in a 30× potentization of Stannum metallicum, Arsenicum album, Mercurius metallicum, Sulfur, Silicea, or lactose (control) in a blinded and fully randomized assignment. Each homeopathic preparation was prepared sterile and divided into separate bottles for use in five experiments on different days. The CuCl₂-biocrystallization of seedlings extracted in the homeopathic preparations was performed, and resulting biocrystallograms were scanned and analyzed by digital textural image analysis (TA). The global ANOVA of the TA variables showed significant interactions between treatment group and experimental day. The TA variables yielded significant differences between the control and some of the homeopathic treatments, as well as between several of the five homeopathic treatments in a two-way ANOVA (treatment group and experimental day). The most pronounced effects were found for Silicea 30× compared with Stannum metallicum 30× and lactose 30×. Because this screening experiment revealed that homeopathically treated cress exhibited different effects in the texture of the biocrystallograms depending on the homeopathic treatment, the CuCl₂-biocrystallization method is now being applied to a larger study investigating specific effects of 30× potentizations of Stannum metallicum, Silicea, and lactose. This study included systematic negative controls to further ensure the stability of the experimental system, as well as an analysis of the metabolome of the treated cress in pursuit to understand the differences seen in the biocrystallograms.

Keywords: Homeopathy, bioassay, biocrystallization, CuCl₂-biocrystallization, crystallization, cress, metabolomics, specificity