In vitro ovicidal and larvicidal activity of Agave sisalana Perr. (sisal) on gastrointestinal nematodes of goats.

This study describes the in vitro anthelmintic activity of aqueous extracts (AE), ethyl acetate extracts (EE), flavonoid fractions (FF) and saponin fractions (SF) obtained from sisal waste (Agave sisalana) against gastrointestinal nematodes of goats. The activity of these extracts was evaluated by performing inhibition of egg hatch (EHA) and larval migration (LMI) assays. The EC(50) results of the EHA corresponded to 4.7, 0.1 and 0.05 mg/mL for EE, EA and FF, respectively. The SF fraction showed no ovicidal activity. The percent efficacies that were observed for the LMI were 50.3, 33.2 and 64.1% for the AE, EE and SF, respectively. The FF fraction did not show activity against the larvae. The analysis of the FF fraction indicates the presence of a homoisoflavonoid. This report suggests that the A. sisalana has activity in vitro against gastrointestinal nematodes of goats. This effect is likely related to the presence of homoisoflavonoid and saponin compounds, which have different actions for specific stages of nematode development.