Control of parasites with non-traditional methods (Plants)

This study was carried out to evaluate a herbal formulation (HF) based on aqueous extracts of four plants, i.e., leaves of Azadirachta indica and Nicotiana tabacum, flowers of Calotropis procera and seeds of Trachyspermum ammi. The herbal extract exhibited (i) anti-tick effects in all the three bioassays, i.e., adult immersion test, larval packet test and in vivo tick reduction test, (ii) anthelmintic effects in all the three bioassays, i.e., egg hatch test, adult motility assay and fecal egg count reduction test, and (iii) anticoccidial effects in all the seven parameters, i.e., oocyst counts, oocyst score, lesion score, diarrhea, feed conversion ratio, survival percentage and weight gain. The herbal formulation is suitable for the resource-poor farmers as a broad spectrum antiparasitic. Incorporation of this herbal formulation in integrated parasite management practices will add to the sustainability and thus, income of the farmers. Studies on shelf life of the plant extract and its residual activity need to be carried out. The extract, however, may be recommended for use at farm level based on empirical evidence of its anti-parasitic activity