In vitro anthelmintic properties of root extracts of three Musa species

Helminth infections are among the commonest infections in the developing world. Development of resistance in helminthic against conventional anthelmintic drugs however, has become a foremost problem in the treatment of helminth diseases leading to the evaluation of medicinal plants as an alternative source of anthelmintic. Plant collection, authentication, air-drying and extraction with methanol were done. The sheep tapeworm (Moniezia benedeni), roundworm (Ascaris lumbricoides) and adult earthworm (Esenia fetida) were used for the assay. Methanol extracts from the roots of Musa species (M. paradisiaca, M. sapientum and M. nana) were investigated for their anthelmintic activity against the three different worms. The worms were placed in petri dishes in solutions of crude extracts at different concentrations, time of paralysis and death were recorded. Piperazine (20 mg/mL) was used as reference compound. The higher concentrations of plant extracts 200 mg/mL produced faster paralytic effects and showed shorter time of death. Musa paradisiaca was the most potent, requiring less time for paralysis 26.07±1.7, 57.08±1.32, 80.04±0.5 min and death 48.08±2.2, 121.04±0.9, 151.39±0.1 min of the worms of all the extracts. The results of the fractions obtained revealed that dichloromethane (DCM) fraction gave the best activity 20.36, 17.08 and 48.61 min, respectively compared to the other fractions. It can be concluded that Musa species could produce a potent anthelmintic agent in the near future based on this study. Further studies are required for the identification of bioactive component(s) responsible for anthelmintic activity and determining the mechanism of action of these plants.Keywords: Moniezia benedeni; Ascaris lumbricoides; Esenia fetida; Musa species; Anthelmintic