Guiera senegalensis (Combretaceae), is a small shrub abundant in semi-desert areas of the Sudano-Sahelian zone and used widely for the treatment of many complications such as gastrointestinal disorders, microbial, respiratory and parasitic infections. There is renewed interest in the use of medicinal plants to control gastrointestinal helminths of medical and veterinary importance. This study was aimed at investigating the anthelmintic potential of aqueous leaf extract of Guiera senegalensis (Sabara) on earthworm and strongyline larvae cultured from goat faeces. Four different concentrations (700, 800, 900 and 1000 mg/mL) of the extracts were tested and results were expressed in terms of time for paralysis and death of the earthworms and mortality of L3 larvae in 60 minutes. Albendazole was used as a reference standard using three different concentrations (25, 12.5 and 6.25 mg/mL). A Dose-dependent activity was observed in the plant extracts on both the earthworms and L3 larvae. Peak activity was 1000 mg/ml for the earthworm and 250 mg/ml for the L3 larvae. Half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) for paralysis and death of the earthworms was 14.01 mg/ml and 14.64 mg/ml respectively. The mortality index and larval mortality percentage of the L3 larvae for the 250 mg/ml of the aqueous extract was comparable with that of Albendazole. Findings from this study confirm the folkloric claim of the anthelmintic potential of this plant.
Key words: Anthelmintic, Death, Leaf extract, Mortality index, Paralysis, Peak activity
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