Assessment of herbal anthelmintics used by the farmers in Kirinyaga county, Kenya, for the treatment of helminthiosis in cattle

Abstract

The a im of this study was to assess and validate the herbal anthelmintic remedies used by farmers in Kirinyaga county , Kenya for the treatment of th eir cattle against gastrointestinal nematodes . The herbs used were identified via questionnaire survey s through f ocused group discussion s . The aqueous extracts of plants used: Aspillia pluriseta , Vernonia lasiopus, Entada leptostachya and Erythrina abyssinica were prepared and using dosage between 10 and 30% , the viability of infective strongyle larvae were assessed for a period of 48 h. The results of the in vitro antihelmintic study indicated a high to moderate anthelmintic activity for the tested extracts . E. leptostachya exhibited the highest in vitro anthelmintic activity , while E. abyssinica had the lowest activ ity. The anthelmintic activity may have been due to the presence of saponins in the herbal remedies. There was a positive correlation between the saponin concentration and the anthelmintic activity of the extracts . In general , the in vitro anthelmintic act ivity increased with the extract concentration for the medicinal plants examined.