Abstract

Objective: To study the anthelmintic activity of phytochemically charaterized chloroform extracts of Millettia auriculata leaves and stems. Methods: Chloroform extracts of leaves and stems were prepared. Phytochemical characterisation involved preliminary screening, optimisation of solvent system in thin layer chromatography (TLC) and UV absorption measurement of each bright yellow (in view of a common physical property of flavonoids) TLC fraction for each extract. Anthelmintic activity of each extract was carried out for different concentrations (10, 20 and 40 mg/mL) using Pheretima posthuma. Results: Phytochemical characterisation of the extracts revealed the presence of steroids/ triterpenes, phenolics/flavonoids and carbohydrates with optimum TLC-separation in chloroformhexane, 19:1. All the investigated extracts possessed significant anthelmintic activity (P<0.001) at a minimal dose of 10 mg/mL when compared with the corresponding concentration of reference drug albendazole. Leaf extract was found to have more efficacy and potency than that of stem and albendazole. Conclusions: The results of this study indicated that Millettia auriculata can be used as anthelmintic drug. It would be also interesting to find out any novel or existing chemical entities showing anthelmintic activity with mechanism of action.

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