Abstract

Helminthic infections are the most common infection in human beings affecting a large proportion of the world’s population. Antihelminthic (Anthelmintic) drugs are the drugs which are used to kill or reduce the number of helminthic parasites in the intestinal tract or tissues of the body. Moringa oleifera belonging to the moringaceae family is a highly valued plant, distributed in many countries of the tropical and subtropical. The standard drugs such as piperazine citrate, albendazole, mebendazole and thiabendazole possess some side effects such as nausea, vomiting, stomach and abdominal pain, headache, dizziness, and temporary hair loss etc. But the herbal drug shows fewer side effects. The plant which shows muscle relaxant property may also shows antihelminthic activity. So we have selected Moringa oleifera which is an herbal drug and shows muscle relaxant property. Hence the present study was undertaken for phytochemical evaluation and to test the antihelminthic activity of ethanolic extract of Moringa oleifera stem. Preliminary phytochemical investigation indicates the presence of alkaloids, glycosides, flavonoids, steroids, carbohydrates and tannins. Indian adult earthworms (Pheretima posthuma) were used to study antihelminthic activity. The activity was checked in ethanolic extract with three different concentrations (100, 200, and 400mg/ml) and compared with the standard drug albendazole (40mg/ml) and control as distilled water. The result was expressed in the terms of paralysis time and death time of worms. Ethanolic extract of Moringa oleifera stem shows antihelminthic activity in dose dependent manner and maximum efficacy is seen at 400mg/ml concentration. Hence it was concluded that ethanolic extract of Moringa oleifera stem have antihelminthic activity.

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