An in vitro approach to evaluate the nutraceutical value of plant foliage against Haemonchus contortus

• Published in: Parasitology research (1987) Vol. 117; no. 12; pp. 3979 - 3991
• Main Authors: Castañeda-Ramírez, G. S., Rodríguez-Labastida, M., Ortiz-Ocampo, G. I., González-Pech, P. G., Ventura-Cordero, J., Borges-Argáez, R., Torres-Acosta, J. F. J., Sandoval-Castro, C. A., Mathieu, C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.12.2018; Springer; Springer Nature B.V; Springer Verlag (Germany)
• Subjects: Acetone; Animals; Anthelmintic agents; Anthelmintics - pharmacology; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Chemical Sciences; Dietary Supplements; Digestibility; Eggs; Fabaceae - chemistry; Flowers & plants; Foliage; Functional foods & nutraceuticals; Gastrointestinal Diseases - parasitology; Gastrointestinal Tract - parasitology; Haemonchus - drug effects; Haemonchus contortus; Immunology; Intestinal parasites; Larva - drug effects; Leaves; Life Sciences; Medical Microbiology; Medicinal Chemistry; Microbiology; Microbiology and Parasitology; Nutrients; Original Paper; Parasitology; Plant extracts; Plant Extracts - pharmacology; Plant Leaves - chemistry; Ruminants - parasitology; Species; Tannins - analysis; Nutraceutical potential; Chemical composition; Larval exsheathment inhibition assay (LEIA); Egg hatch assay (EHA); In vitro protocol
• ISSN: 0932-0113; 1432-1955
• DOI: 10.1007/s00436-018-6107-0

Nutraceutical plants provide nutrients for the animal as well as secondary compounds that can affect the biology and survival of gastrointestinal nematodes (GIN). Current screening of nutraceutical plants is based on in vitro evidence of anthelmintic (AH) activity against different life stages of GIN, but nutritional information is omitted or scarce. This study proposes an integral in vitro screening protocol to identify the nutraceutical value of the foliage from plant species consumed by small ruminants, using Haemonchus contortus as a biological model. The leaves from Acacia collinsii , A . pennatula , Bunchosia swartziana , Gymnopodium floribundum , Havardia albicans , Leucaena leucocephala , Lysiloma latisiliquum , Mimosa bahamensis , Piscidia piscipula , and Senegalia gaumeri were evaluated for their chemical composition and in vitro digestibility. Acetone:water extracts (70:30) from leaves of each plant were evaluated using the egg hatch assay and larval exsheathment inhibition assay. Respective effective concentrations 50% (EC 50 ) were determined for each assay. The ten plant species showed good nutritional value for ruminants, including crude protein (> 10%), metabolizable energy (> 2.9 MJ/kg DM), and varied CT content (from 1.0 to 37.6%). The best AH activity against H . contortus eggs (EC 50  = 401.8 μg/mL) and L 3 (EC 50  = 83.1 μg/mL) was observed for S . gaumeri extract. Although all the plant species showed in vitro nutraceutical potential, the leaves of S . gaumeri had the best values. The proposed in vitro protocol showed to be useful for the integral assessment of the nutraceutical potential of different plant species as it included the nutritional value and the AH activity against eggs and L 3 in the selected plant species.