Abstract

American wormseed oil, also known as Chenopodium ambrosioides oil, is obtained from the herbs of the genus Chenopodium which comprises more than 200 species and belongs to the geographical region of Asia, Europe, China, India, America and other countries. Chenopodium has been traditionally used for digestive, respiratory, diabetes, uro-genital, nervous and vascular disorders and has antihelminthic, vermifuge, emmenagogue sedative, antipyretic, antirheumatic and abortifacient activities. Ascaridole is a bicyclic monoterpene commonly known as ascarisin or 1,4-epidioxy-p-menth-2-ene which have sedative, antifungal and painrelieving properties. It is a potent inhibitor of Trypanosoma cruzi, Plasmodium falciparum, and Leishmania amazonensis and is well known for its worm-expelling potential. Ascaridole was firstly isolated by a German pharmacist in the 1900’s and at that time it was one of the best antihelmintics for the treatment of ascarids and hookworms in humans and other species like cats, dogs, horses and pigs. Ascaridole could be extracted by using a non-polar solvent hexane due to its very poor solubility in water. From the literature support, it has been proved that ascaridole have very high potential in the modern and other system of medicine for the treatment of various disorders. So on the basic of its uses, here we have collected and compiled all the data regarding its medicinal uses, pharmacological activities and analytical techniques of the ascaridole in the present review and expected that this review will be beneficial for the researcher in the field of medicine and other allied science.

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