Abstract

VALIDATION OF ANTHELMINTIC PROPERTIES OF NEEM (AZADIRACHTA INDICA) IN THE LIVESTOCK

*Sunil Kumar, Kiran Upadhyay

Abstract

Literature review reveals that gastrointestinal helminth infections persist widely among various livestock species across the globe and are a significant cause of economic losses to farmers. Azadirachta indica could be a herbal supplement of synthetic drugs like albendazole, ivermectin, closantel against the gastrointestinal helminth’s infection in veterinary practices under the circumstances of synthetic drug resistance, drug residues and cost effective to the farmers. The leaves of A. indica reported more effective than its other part in all the reviewed experiments. Its efficacy was recorded more against nematodes infections like Strongyles spp., Setaria cervi, Haemonchus spp. than other helminths like cestodes, trematodes of live stocks. A. indica leaves extracts (0.15-100mg/ml) in vitro and 400g/kg body weight (bwt) in vivo examined maximum effective at 100% which is closer to the efficacy of synthetic drug. The phytochemical extracts of its leaves like phenol and tannins were indirectly correlated for anthelminthic properties and pharmacological compound like sulfonoquinovosyl diacyl glyceride (SQDG) extracted and could be responsible for the same.

Keywords: Gastrointestinal helminth, Helminthosis, Livestock, Neem, Azadirachta indica, Herbal supplement.