Pharmacognostical, Phytochemical and In-Vitro Anthelmintic Activity of Cassia roxburghii Seed and Boerhaavia diffusa Root against Pheritima posthuma Model

Plants have served human beings as a natural source for treatments and therapies from ancient times, amongst them medicinal herbs have gain attention because of its wide use and less side effects. In the recent years plant research has increased throughout the world and a huge amount of evidences have been collected to show immense potential of medicinal plants used in various traditional systems. The objective of this study was to investigate pharmacognostical, phytochemical features and anthelmintic action of Cassia roxburghii (seeds) and Boerhaavia diffusa (roots). The different pharmacognostical parameters were evaluated as per standard protocols with some modifications. Qualitative analysis of various phytochemical constituents was determined by the well-known test protocol available in the literature.  Phytochemical analysis revealed the presence of alkaloids, glycosides, flavonoids, steroids, saponins, triterpenoits and carbohydrate. Three different doses (10, 25, & 50 mg/ml) of each extracts were studied, which involves the determination of time of paralysis and time of death of worm. All the extracts showed a dose dependent increase in the anthelmintic action. Out of all the extracts, the methanol extracts showed highest activity in both plants followed by ethyl and aqueous extracts. At the concentration of 50 mg/ml the methanol showed a remarkable anthelmintic activity which was even greater than the standard drug (Albendazole) at the same concentration. 
Keywords: Cassia roxburghii, Boerhaavia diffusa, Pheretima posthuma, Anthelmintic action, Paralysis, Albendazole.