In-vitro Anthelminthic Effects of Vernonia Amygdalina Leaf Ethanolic and Aqueous Extracts on Earthworms (pheritima Posthuma)

Anthelmintic resistance to commonly used chemotherapeutic drugs is on the increase and alternatives are been explored, and medicinal plants have shown promised as probable alternatives to orthodox drugs. This study was conducted to investigate the in-vitro anthelminthic effects of crude ethanolic and aqueous extracts of Vernonia amygdalina leaf on earthworms (Pheritima posthuma). The leaves were collected from the University of Maiduguri campus, air dried, ground into powder using pestle and mortar and extracted. Four graded concentrations (1.25, 2.5, 5.0 and 10.0 mg/mL) of the crude extract for each solvent were prepared and evaluated for the in-vitro anthelmintic effects. The number of dead and alive earth worms were counted and recorded after 60 minutes and repeated after 120 minutes. The results indicated that there was an increasing mortality with increasing concentration of the ethanolic extract with regards to percentage dead in number of earthworms exposed for 60 minutes with 15% at 1.25mg/mL and 95% at 10mg/mL with a mean±SD of 0.75±0.5 and 4.75±0.5 respectively(p