Evaluation of Ethnopharmacological Potential for Anthelmintic Activity of two common weeds, Oxalis corymbosa DC. and Oxalis pes-caprae L. of family Oxalidaceae

Abstract

The present research was conducted to investigate the anthelmintic potential of crude extracts from the stem, leaves, and flowers of two common weeds, Oxalis corymbosa DC. & O. pes-caprae L., of family Oxalidaceae, against gastrointestinal parasitic worm (helminth), Haemonchus contortus in polar & non-polar solvents, i.e. distilled water, ethanol, chloroform, and n-hexane. The time taken for the paralysis and ultimately the death of the worms by the crude extracts of both plants was found reasonably well as compared to that of the standard drug, Albendazole. However, the crude extracts of stem, leaves, and flowers of O. corymbosa in ethanol were found to be more effective than those of O. pes-caprae with paralysis (17.33, 14.20, and 10.13 min, respectively) and death time (18.16, 15.10, and 9.33 min, respectively) while Albendazole recorded paralysis and death time as 59.10 and 60.06 min, respectively. Likewise, the anthelmintic potential of stem, leaves, and flowers extracts of O. corymbosa in n-hexane, chloroform, and distilled water was noticeably higher such as in n-hexane, stem, leaves and flowers extracts of O. corymbosa had paralysis (29.20, 27.33 and 28.0, respectively) and death time (30.20, 30.16 and 30.06, respectively) while the same extracts of O. pes-caprae had paralysis (37.43, 36.40, and 34.06, respectively) and death time (39.10, 36.83, and 35.33, respectively). The results indicated sound anthelmintic potential of the two weeds.