Ovicidal effect of ethanolic extracts of selected plants on eggs of liver flukes <i>in vitro</i>

Fasciolosis is a parasitic disease that affects both humans and animals. Due to parasitic resistance to chemical drugs, there has been a growing focus on studying the anthelmintic properties of plants. <i>In vitro</i>, studies were conducted on the ovicidal activity of ethanolic extracts of 29 plants against eggs of liver flukes from cattle. Plants were selected due to their availability and previous literature reports. Each plant's ethanolic extract was tested at a concentration of 20 % of the raw extract. The incubation period was 15 days at 28°C for all treated eggs, while control samples were treated with ethanol and water. Mortality levels of eggs ranged from 0 to 100 %. <i>Moringa oleifera, Ananas comosus, and Foeniculum vulgare</i> caused the highest mortality levels of 100 %, 100 %, and 90 %, respectively, followed by <i>Cymbopogon nardus</i> and <i>Artemisia afra</i>, which caused mortality levels of 62 % and 60 %, respectively. The plant extracts were then used in a concentration-response experiment using 5 %, 10 %, and 20 % extracts. Extracts from <i>Moringa oleifera</i> and <i>Ananas comosus</i> showed the highest ovicidal activity at the three concentrations, followed by <i>F. vulgare</i>, <i>C. nardus</i>, and <i>A. afra</i>. At the 5 % concentration, <i>M. oleifera</i> and <i>A. comosus</i> extracts were both ovicidal, with rates of 83 % and 80 %, respectively.