Phytochemical Screening and anthelmintic efficacy of Punica granatum peels and Moringa oleifera leaves against Haemonchus contortus.

Abstract

The present study was carried out to investigate the anti-helmintic efficacy of two commonly used plants Punica granatum and Moringa oleifera and analyse its phytoconstituents. Methanolic extract of the plants in five concentration ranging from 5 to 200 mg/ml was prepared and tested for their adulticidal and ovicidal activity through in vitro Adult Motility Test (AMT) and Egg Hatch Test (EHT). The Phytochemical analysis was carried out by HPTLC.The results of AIT indicated that there was complete cessation of motility for all the worms tested after 6 h and 7 h of exposure for methanolic extract of P. granatum and M. oleifera respectively. At highest concentration, the time taken for mortality in case of pomegranate peel extract was 195.3 ± 6.38 min while for Moringa leaves extract was 242.3 ± 6.36 min. The ovicidal activity as determined by egg hatch test demonstrated a 100 and 98.3% inhibition of egg hatching at highest concentration that was comparable to the reference drug for methanolic extract of P. granatum and M. oleifera respectively. The ovicidal action was also revealed by log probit analysis and IC 50 values of 33.92 mg/ml was recorded for M. oleifera leaves while the IC 50 value for pomegranate peel extract was calculated to be 21.33 mg/ml. The Phytochemical screening for methanolic extracts through HPTLC revealed P. granatum peel extract contained 0.084 mg/ml of rutin, 0.83 mg/ml of gallic acid and 0.328 mg/ml of quercetin. M. oleifera leaf extract contained 0.058 mg/ml of rutin, 0.218 mg/ml gallic acid and 0.592 mg/ml quercetin. While both the plant extracts showed anthelmintic activity, Pomegranate peel fared better over Moringa leaves owing to its higher inhibition of egg hatching, lesser time for mortality and lower IC 50 values. However, for further validation and formulation of novel herbal anthelmintic, in vivo and toxicity studies are essential.