Anticestodal efficacy of folklore medicinal plants of Naga tribes in north-east India
Temjenmongla ; Yadav, A.K.
African Journal of Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicines 2(2): 129-133
2005
ISSN/ISBN: 2505-0044 Document Number: 260109
The anticestodal efficacy of nine plants that are used in the indigenous system of medicine by Naga tribes in northeast India to cure intestinal-helminth parasitic infections was tested employing Raillietina echinobothrida, a tapeworm of poultry, as a model test parasite. The study revealed that the leaves of Psidium guajava, Houttuynia cordata and stalk of Lasia spinosa possess a profound anticestodal efficacy as evidenced by the mean mortality time of R. echinobothrida which ranged from 1.00 to 3.66 h, following exposure to 5-40 mg/ml concentrations of these plant extracts. Moderate activities were recorded for the leaves of Clerodendrum colebrookianum, Lasia spinosa and Centella asiatica, while Curcuma longa, Cinnamomum cassia [Cinnamomum aromaticum], Gynura angulosa, Lasia spinosa (stem) and Aloe vera [Aloe barbadensis] revealed negligible degrees of anticestodal activity.