Incense fell Santo - wooden sticks that light up to be smoldering, filling the room with aroma, often called Healing. These incense supposedly not only relax and help to cope with insomnia, but also disinfect the air around them. We checked whether this is really so.

Here's what they write about this in one of the articles on the Yandex.Zen portal:

“Palo Santo Palo is the treatment, it reduces the number of bacteria in the air. The 2007 scientific study, published in the journal Ethnopharmacology, found that drug smoke could almost completely destroy the bacteria in the air in a closed space. One hour of combustion of drug smoke reduced the number of bacteria in the air by 94%, and the cleansing effect lasted 24 hours in a closed room. ”

Santo fell from Spanish means "holy tree." This tree (Bursera Graveolens) grows in North and South America, its oil is often used in cosmetology. Some peoples living in South America use this tree for ritual and therapeutic purposes: for example, for relaxation.

Palo Santo has a pleasant smell, and his smoldering chips are now often used as incense. Smoke spreads around the room and, by words Some users cleans the air, killing up to 94% of bacteria. At the same time, the authors of these statements refer to the same study that the user of Yandex.Zen writes about.

The same effect is often attributed sage. Allegations that his smoke disinfects the air, Meet Even in the headings of some media. At the same time, links lead everything for the same study.

In 2007, Ethnopharmacology really released in the journal article, in which scientists talked about how the smoke of healing herbs affects bacteria in the room. The results of the study really showed that smoke kills up to 94% of the bacteria in the room, and the effect lasts more than 24 hours.

However, in fact, the researchers checked not the action of Santo or Sage. A large mixture of herbs and wood called Havan Samagri, which is usually used in Hinduism for ritual cleaning of the premises, participated in the experiment.

In the study, the authors list the ingredients that participated in the conjunction of herbs: there is neither Santo or Sage. Most of the plants are characteristic species for India. Santo is growing mainly in North and South America and in traditional medicine is mainly used in Ecuador.

Thus, the burning of some herbs (or their mixture) can really reduce the amount of bacteria in the air. But there are no data confirming this information about Santo.