ALL ABOUT PLANTS & HERBS

[Guest]

...loading shoutbox...

[Gab]

Garlic
    is a common plant dewormer readily available in many parts of the world. Anoms (1953) reported that garlic can be effective against Ascaris, Enterobius and, of particular interest for ruminants, against lungworm in general. Garlic does not prevent the production of eggs but prevents the eggs of certain parasites from developing into larvae (Bastidas, 1969). Garlic has been well characterized as a powerful antimicrobial, cardiac treatment, and cholesterol lowering agent. In addition, garlic is used to repel and kill parasites in veterinary medicine (Wynn, http://www.altvetmed.com )

wormwood

Many wormwood species have deworming properties. Common mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris) is effective against protostrongylus, Dictyocaulus and Bunostomum.
However, common wormwood (Artemisia absinthium) must be used with caution.

Similarly, Eurasian wormwood (Artemisia cina) is a desert plant that is used to make santonin and the homeopathic remedy Cina, both used as dewormers. Santonin is extracted from dry buds of the plant. It acts against most parasites except Echinococcus. Macleod (1997) has also reported that santonium is used as a vermicide against ascaris worms.

The dried, powdered shoots of Artemisia herba-alba wormwood (a species common to North Africa) proved to be highly effective against Haemonchus contortus (Idris et al.,1982) and Hedera helix is effective against liverfluke in sheep (Julien et al., 1985).

Similarly, Akhter and Ahmad (1992) have shown that the fruit of Mallotus Philippinensis (Kamala) is as effective as a conventional levamisole based anthelmintic in the treatment of gastrointestinal cestodes in goats.

Cooper and Gordon (1996) measured the anthelmintic activity of the extracts of the aerial parts of wormwood (Artemisia absinthium), Tansy (Tanacetum vulgare), greater birdsfoot trefoil (Lotus pedunculatus) and the bark of Scot's pine (Pinus sylvestris). They further reported that high doses of wormwood and tansy, and medium doses of pine resulted in lower number of worms than in control animals but there were no significant differences between the treatments.

In another study in Cameroon Ndi et al. (1999) conducted a study in 9 groups of 8 calves using four indigenous plant species namely, Terminalia glaucescens, Veronia amygladina, Solanum aculeastrum and Khaya anthotheca. They found that S. aculeastrum, K. anthotheca and V. amygladina were effective with faecal egg count reductions of 34.4, 52.4 and 55.8 % respectively for Haemonchus sp., Trychostrongylus sp., Strongyloides papillosus., Bunostomum sp., Oesophagostomum sp and Cooperia sp , 21 days after treatment.

Similarly, Mostafa, Mckellar and Alam (1996) reported an anthelmintic efficacy of 35 to 53% against natural infections of gastrointestinal nematodes from the seeds of the indigenous medicinal plant neem (Azadirachta indica).

[Gab]

Wild ginger or snakeroot
   Wild ginger or snakeroot (Asarum canadense) is very similar to wild ginger which was used as an anthelmintic purge for cattle and horses.

Conifers
   Common juniper (Juniperus communis) has deworming properties, notably against liverfluke (http://www.eap.mcgill.ca/AgroBio/ab370-04e.htm).

Crucifers (Mustard family)
    Mustard is an excellent nematicide plant. In India, some cattle farmers use mustard oil against parasites.

Cucurbits
    The seeds of squash, pumpkins and many other vine crops contain a deworming compound called cocurbitacin. However, effect is more dependant on the parasites (Forgacs et al., 1970). Aqueous extracts from squash seeds (dilution 1/50) are effective against Haemonchus contortus (Sharma et al., 1971).

[Gab]

Fern
    The rhizomes and young shoots (fiddleheads) of the male fern (Dryopteris filix-mas) have deworming properties that have long been recognised in Europe.

Umbelliferae
    Carrot seeds (Daucus carota) either wild or cultivated, are dewormers, as are tea made with roots. A mixture of anise, cumin and juniper seeds is effective against Dictyocaulus lungworm in calves.

Tansy
    Tansy seeds (Tanacetum vulgare) are used against Nematodirus in sheep (Papchankov, 1968). The oil from the flower is also anthelmintic

Chenopodium ambrosioides (Family: Chenopodiaceas)
    The oil extracted from this plant has long been used to control internal parasites both for humans and animals. Oil, whole plants or the leaves are used as an anthelmintic. Current research on treating Haemonchus contortum at Cornell University showed that oil of chenopodium does decrease fecal egg counts in sheep and goats. However, the decrease is not very large compared to the degree of control that can be achieved with other anthelmintic.

[Gab]

Carica Papaya (Family: Caricaceae)
    The fruits, leaves, and latex are used medicinally. The application of papaya latex has anthelmintic properties. Satrija et al. (1994) tested the efficacy of papaya latex (at doses of 2, 4, and 8 g/kg body weight against Ascaris suum in 16 pigs. The 4 and 8 g/kg body weight treatment significantly reduced the epg produced by adult worms by 80 and 100 % respectively.

There are several plants that have been widely used for controlling internal parasites in ruminants but there is no hard data available on the efficacy of their uses. Most of this information is anecdotal and needs further verification if these plants/herbs are to be used effectively. However, some plants that have been widely used by farmers in many continents are mentioned briefly.

Other plants
    Blackberries, raspberries and young ash and elder shoots are other plant species with deworming properties that should be accessible in pastures. Cabaret (1986) reported that beech creosote is used against lungworm in ruminants. Some of the plants used successfully as anthelmintics and their mode of action and doses are presented in Table 3, and suggested candidates for further evaluation are presented in Table 4.





In the temperate regions of the world, leguminous plants have been reported to have anthelmintic properties, and at certain stages of growth, pasture grasses and forage crops appear to act as vermifuges (Anderson et a., 1987). More recently work in New Zealand suggests that forages containing condensed tannins provide sheep with the ability to withstand helminth infection (Niezen et al., 1995).

[Gab]

Other dewormers
   
Diatomaceous earth
    Diatomaceous earth is made from the remains of fossilised marine algae called diatoms. It has been claimed that regular use of diatomaceous earth at 2% of the ration can act as a dewormer. However, it does not effect lungworm and is not very appetising.

Surfactants
    Many American farmers use Shaklee's Basic H surfactant as a cattle dewormer with success.

Copper sulphate
    Copper sulphate has a strong deworming action against certain parasites, particularly Haemonchus contortus and Trichostrongylus axei which affect the abomasum.