ANTHELMINTIC ACTIVITY OF THE FLOWER EXTRACT OF KACHNAR AGAINST PHERETIMA POSTHUMA

ANTHELMINTIC ACTIVITY OF THE FLOWER EXTRACT OF KACHNAR AGAINST PHERETIMA POSTHUMA

Pritam V. Chindarkar

Department of Matoshri Asarabai Darade Ayurved College, Babhulgaon, Tal. Yeola, Nashik - 423401, Maharashtra, India.

ABSTRACT: The main objective of this present work is to evaluate the anthelmintic activity of crude alcohol extracts of the flowers of kachnar (Bauhinia variegata) against Pheretima posthuma as a test worm. The activity was assessed by worm motility assay, which involved the determination of time of paralysis and death of worms. The preliminary phytochemical study of the alcoholic extract was also carried out. The alcoholic extracts exhibited a dose-dependent (25, 50, and 100 mg/ml) inhibition of spontaneous motility and time of death of the worms. The alcoholic extract was found to be effective; the activity was comparable with the standard drug Piperazine citrate and water as a control.

Kachnar, Alcohol, Flowers, Motility, Anthelmintic

INTRODUCTION: The plant Bauhinia variegata (Fabaceae) is called “Kachnar” in Hindi, commonly known as ‘Rakta Kanchan’ in Sanskrit. Bauhinia variegata is distributed in sub Himalayan and outer Himalaya of the Punjab and Sikkim state, India ¹. It is used traditionally in dysentery, diarrhea, hemorrhoids, piles, edema, laxative, anti-helmintic, astringent, anti-leprotic, wound healing, anti-goitrogenic, anti-tumor, the antidote for snake poisoning, dyspepsia, and carminative disease ².

Various parts of the tree have been reported to phyto-chemicals such as flavonoids, tannin, kaempferol, terpenoids, saponins, reducing sugars steroids, cardiac glycosides, and quercetin.

It is also reported to have anti-bacterial, anti-helmintic, anti-arthritic, anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, immune-modulatory, hepatoprotective, anti-oxidant, trypsin inhibitor, and anti-carcino-genic activity in modern science ³. The present study was aimed ‘to evaluate anthelmintic activity of flowers of Kachnar’.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

Procurement of Plant Material: Flowers of plant kachnar (Bauhinia variegata) were collected from ‘SMBT Campus Dhamangaon Nashik; Maharashtra, India, in the month of Nov-Dec 2019. Botanical identification was carried out, and the voucher specimen of the plant material has been deposited at the Institute level.

Preparation of the Extract: The flowers of Kachnar (Bauhinia variegata) were shade dried, crushed to produce coarse powder, and subjected to extraction in Soxhlet’s extractor using ethanol (95%). The extract was filtered while hot and concentrated by vacuum, which is further evaporated to dryness to obtain alcoholic extract and stored at 4 ºC until used.

Collection of Worm: The adult earthworms were collected from a waterlogged area of soil. The collected earthworm washed with normal saline to remove all fecal matter. The earthworm is long (3‐5 cm in length and 0.1‐0.2 cm in width), cylindrical worms with a brownish color, and have physiological resemblance with the intestinal round-worms parasite of human beings. The collected earthworm is authenticated as a Pheretima posthuma (Indian earthworm).

Preliminary Phytochemical Test: The Pre-liminary Phytochemical study for various secondary metabolites (phytoconstituent’s) carries out as per the procedure of Kokate CK (1994) ⁴.

Anthelmintic Bio-Assay: The anthelmintic assay carried out as per the procedure of Gururaja MP et al., (2009) ^{5, 6}. The different concentration for an alcoholic extract of Bauhinia variegates, i.e., Kachnar (25, 50, 100 mg/ml) and piperazine citrate (10 mg/ml) as a standard was prepared. Then formulations were prepared of all concentrations of sample and standard by triturating them with 50 ml 15% tween 80, after triturating the formulation mix well for 30 min using a mechanical stirrer. The earthworms kept in petridish the sample and standard tested separately, 15% tween 80 with distilled water is a negative control. The observation was made for the time of paralysis and time for death required for the earthworm. When there is no movement after vigorous shaking of petridish with an earthworm, consider as a time of paralysis. Time for death also noted after ascertaining that worm neither moved when shaken vigorously nor when dipped in warm water (50 ^oC).

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION:

Preliminary Phytochemical Investigation: The presence of secondary metabolites as glycosides- flavonoid, phenols, tannins, terpenoids and keto-steroids.

Anthelmintic Bio-Assay: Alcohol extracts of flowers of kachnar (Bauhinia variegata) showed significant anthelmintic activity in Table 1 at the concentration 50 mg/ml and 100 mg/ml against Pheritima poshthuma. The activity was found to be increased with dose (shortest time of paralysis and death was observed at 100 mg/ml), and the activity was comparable to the well known anthelmintic agent Piperazine citrate.

TABLE 1: ANTHELMINTIC ACTIVITY OF THE FLOWERS OF KACHNAR

CONCLUSION: These data and parameters have been investigated for Kachnar to set pharma-cological and phytochemical standards, which could be useful to find the authenticity of this traditional medicinal system plant. In conclusion, the use of Kachnar flowers as an anthelmintic has been confirmed, and further studies are suggested to isolate the active principle responsible for the anthelmintic activity.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: Nil

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST: Nil

REFERENCES:

1. Singh KL, Singh DK and Singh VK: Multidimensional uses of medicinal plant Kachnar (Bauhinia variegata) American Journal of Phytomedicine and Clinical Therapeutics (AJPCT) 2016; 4 (2): 058-72.
2. Anonymous, The wealth of India (Raw material), Publication and Information Directorate, CSIR New Delhi 2001; 5.
3. Arvind N, Sharma N and Singh MF: Spectrum of pharmacological activities from Bauhinia variegata: a review. J of Pharmacy Research 2012; 5(2): 792-97.
4. Khandelwal KR: Practical Pharmacognosy techniques and experiments. Nirali Prakashan Pune Ed 2005; 13: 130-49.
5. Kokate CK: Handbook of Practical Pharmacognosy. Vallabh Prakashan, New Delhi, Edition 1994; 58-136.
6. Gururaja MP: Anthelmintic activity of Tectona grandis Linn leaves. Herbal Heritage 2009; 1(2); 97-99.
   

   ---

   How to cite this article:

   Chindarkar PV: Anthelmintic activity of the flower extract of kachnar against Pheretima posthuma. Int J Pharmacognosy 2020; 7(11): 326-27. doi link: http://dx.doi.org/10.13040/IJPSR.0975-8232.IJP.7(11).326-27.

   ---

   This Journal licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-commercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.

   ---