Varsha Jayasankar

Student Entrepreneur

Varsha Jayasankar is a student entrepreneur who hails from the Niagara Peninsula, is garnering national acclaim for her investigation of mango ginger as a prospective natural replacement option for pesticides and antibiotics given growing restrictions on the domestic use of these products. Jayasankar's grandfather educated the high school student on the preventative properties of mango ginger, prompting her to begin assessing the potential antibiotic properties of this traditional spice. Drawing on guidance from her father, a professor at the University of Guelph, the young student prepared an extract of mango ginger named Curcuma Amada Chloroform Extract, or CACE, to test against plant as well as human pathogenic bacteria. CACE was found to be extremely effective in inhibiting the growth of two plant and two human pathogens including Clostridium Difficile, a very dangerous and multi-antibacterial resistant pathogen. Jayasankar's efforts merited a Canada Wide Science Fair Gold Medal and a 2013 Manning Innovation Achievement Award.