Tuberous plants with active compounds against helminths in livestock: A systematic review

Abstract

Background: The rise in drug resistance to helminthiases is posing a serious challenge to conventional techniques of controlling parasitic illnesses in livestock. Using less conventional approaches such as plant extracts can improve the situation. This research aims to explore the emerging role of tuberous plants in developing anthelmintics.Methods: From October 2020 to July 2022, a comprehensive literature search was conducted using the search engines Google Scholar, NISCAIR Online Periodicals Repository, NCBI, Taylor and Francis Online, Wiley Online Libraries, Science Direct, ResearchGate, and Springer Link. The evaluation included only tuberous plants with anthelmintic properties. Qualitative-quantitative analysis techniques were used to analyse the data collected.Results: Forty-eight ethnobotanical investigations recorded plants with tuber portions that were utilized to combat helminths. There were 43 plants identified, divided into 24 families. Seven plants were found to be the most culturally important in the management of helminths. The common phytochemical classes were phytosterols, tannins, alkaloids, saponins, essential oils, flavonoids, and terpenoids . Twenty-six of these tuberous plants have been tested for their anthelmintic effect against trematodes, cestodes, nematodes, protozoa, coccidian, and eoacanthacephala. Thirty-two plants have been reported to exhibit some toxicity effects. Twelve tuberous plants have been indicated to be endangered.Conclusions: Dioscorea deltoidea, Dioscorea bulbifera, Dioscorea alata, Gloriosa superba, Curcuma longa, Dioscorea pentaphylla, and Cyperus rotundus were the most culturally important plants for controlling helminths. These plants are mostly found in India and Nepal. The review gave more insights into the therapeutic safety of the popular folklore drugs and provided grounds for an assessment of possible measures to be introduced before conducting clinical studies. The article provides public and Government recognition of endangered plants species and spurs conservation efforts toward saving both plants and folk medicinal knowledge. There is a need to investigate other tuberous plants to identify unique compounds that are active against helminths to develop more robust anthelmintic drugs and reduce anthelmintic resistance levels.