In-vitro Anthelmintic Activity of Methanolic and Aqueous Extracts of Achyranthes aspera linn. (Amaranthaceae) Stems

The Anthelmintic activities of methanolic and aqueous extracts of stems of Achyranthes aspera linn. were evaluated separately on Indian adult earthworms Pheretima posthuma (Annelida). For this work the stems were extracted separately with methanol and distilled water by following maceration method. Various concentrations (2.5, 5, 10, 20 mg/ml) of each extract were tested for anthelmintic activity which involved the determination of time of paralysis and time of death of the worms. The phytochemical screening of the crude extract showed the presence of saponins A and B, terpenoids, volatile oils. All extracts were able to show anthelmintic activity at all concentrations. The activities are well comparable with the standard drug, Albendazole as positive control. All the methanolic extracts showed better anthelmintic activity than the standard drug as well as the aqueous extract. Tween 20 (1%) with saline was used as negative control, did not showed any anthelmintic activity.