ALL ABOUT PLANTS & HERBS

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Local plants as dewormers for goats?
By Visayas State University

Star apple or caimito (Chrysophyllum cainito), makabuhay (Tinospora rumphii), and makahiya (Mimosa pudica) can be used as anthelmintics or dewormers in treating parasitism in goats, studies show.

Earlier phytochemical studies of Dr. Tomas Fernandez, a researcher from the Visayas State University in Baybay, Leyte, showed that these plants are rich in bioactive compounds that are critical in killing, lyzing, and expelling adult worms, their eggs and larvae; and in healing inflammation brought about by the worms. When combined as a cocktail drug, the efficacy of the herbal dewormer is expected to increase.

Dr. Fernandez’ study showed that star apple or caimito has high concentration of alkaloids; makabuhay has high flavonoids; and makahiya has high tannins.

Fernandez’ findings are especially relevant for goat raisers as one of the perennial problems of goat productivity is parasitism. Haemonchus contortus, the most pathogenic worm in goats, causes economic losses such as death and reduced production of meat and milk.

The use of chemical anthelmintics is one effective option in removing and controlling parasites. However, they are expensive; not always available in remote areas; and with continuous use, may cause resistance.

As an alternative, herbal anthelmintics can be utilized. Compared to synthetic drugs, they are more accessible, inexpensive and available all year round..

For this reason, Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD) supported a project to determine proportions of caimito, makabuhay, and makahiya in combination that will be effective against all stages of the Haemonchus. It is expected that their bioactive components will act synergistically to control the parasite.

Incidentally, Fernandez led the group of researchers that was responsible for these findings through the first phase of the project, “Development of herbal drugs for the management of common strongyle worm infections in goats”, conducted from November 2008 to May 2009. This preliminary project screened the stems of makabuhay and the leaves of caimito and makahiya against the infective larval stage, L3, of H. contortus.

The project also evaluated the effects of the different solvents in the extraction of the active compounds of the three plants and determined the ratio combination of these plant extracts/solvent fractions that would kill at least 80% of L3s of H. contortus.

Using petroleum ether, ethanol, and water as solvents, the three plants were extracted for their bioactive compounds by infusion technique. The solvent fractions were concentrated individually in a rotary evaporator and the plant solvent fractions were assayed for their larvicidal activity. The fractions that had the highest percent efficacy were combined to make the plant cocktails.

The percent efficacy of the individual plant extract and the combined ethanolic fractions and ethanolic extracts of the three plants was indicated by the number of L3s of H. contortus that died 30 minutes after exposure.

The project showed that ethanol is the best solvent to extract the bioactive components of the three plants. Meanwhile, the plant crude ethanolic fractions (CEF) and extracts (CEE) were highly effective in killing a significant number of L3s of H. contortus, regardless of the concentrations tested.

On the other hand, the cocktails of these CEF/CEE were also highly effective regardless of the ratio combinations tested. With these results, the plant extracts can be the starting materials for the characterization and isolation of the bioactive components of the herbal drugs.

wala akong makabuhay..... and makahiya.... tsk tskt sk...