CANBERRA: Australian scientists believe they have rediscovered an effective use for lemon juice - as a contraceptive and also a killer of the AIDS virus.  Reproductive physiologist Roger Short, from the University of Melbourne's obstetrics department. said a few drops of lemon juice can be a cheap. easy-to use solution to protect women from both HIV and pregnancy. The juice should be squeezed onto a piece of sponge or cotton wool and placed into the vagina before sex, he said. "We can show in the lab that

lemon juice is very effective in immobilizing human sperm and also very effective in killing HIV," Short told Australian Broadcasting Corp television in a science programme to be shown later on Thursday.

He said lime juice, which has similar acid levels, can also be used, with both fruits often freely available in poor countries where contraception is hard to come by.

Short said laboratory tests found not only does lemon juice kill sperm, it also kills the AIDS virus itself. Short said using lemon juice as a

contraceptive was not a new idea but it had fallen by the wayside over the years.  The ancient douche-style contraceptive was encouraged by such luminaries as Casanova, renowned for his sexual prowess.