Abstract:
Helminth infections are major health problems, especially in developing countries with
warm and humid environments. Limited synthetic drugs are available for treating helminth
infections, and some of them showed resistance to helminths. Phytoconstituents can be used to
develop cheap and effective anthelminthic drugs. Borassus flabellifer has been used in traditional
medicine, in addition to consuming as food. This study was designed to evaluate the comparative in
vitro anthelmintic activities of aqueous and methanol extracts of root, fruit pulp, and sap of Borassus
flabellifer using two different concentrations (50 and 100 mg/mL). Adult earthworms, Eisenia fetida
was used to evaluate the in-vitro anthelmintic activity. In-vitro anthelmintic activity was evaluated
by determining times of paralysis and the death of worms. The anthelminthic activity of extracts was
compared with mebendazole, and earthworm saline was used as a control. ANOVA followed by
Dunnett’s multiple comparison test was used to compare the activities of extracts with mebendazole.
All extracts showed concentrations dependent activity. All extracts except aqueous extract of roots of
Borassus flabellifer showed statistically significant in-vitro anthelminthic activity. Further studies
are needed to isolate and evaluate the active components from the extracts of Borassus flabellifer.
