Assessment of Phytochemical and Anthelmintic Activity of Some Selected Ethnomedicinal Plants from Barak Valley Region of Assam

Since ancient times it has been observed that the ethnomedicinal knowledge is backbone of rural healthcare. The traditional healers of Barak Valley region of Assam used traditional medicine for the treatment of various diseases including helminths infection. Hence the current study was planned to explore the traditional medicines namely Justicia adhatoda, Vernonia amygdalina, Mikania micrantha and Momordica charantia used as anthelmintic activity by the local people of Barak Valley region of Assam. The decoction of leaves of Justicia adhatoda, Vernonia amygdalina, Mikania micrantha and Momordica charantia were prepared for the phytochemical studies and anthelmintic activity. The phytochemical study demonstrated the presence of flavonoids, tannins, phenolic compounds, alkaloids and glycosides in Justicia adhatoda, Vernonia amygdalina, Mikania micrantha and Momordica charantia. The Justicia adhatoda, Vernonia amygdalina, Mikania micrantha and Momordica charantia showed significant anthelmintic activity by inducing mortality of earthworm Pheritima posthuma. The above findings confirmed the ethnobotanical uses of these plants as an anthelmintic by local people of Barak Valley area of Assam.

Helminthiases are parasitic worm that cause infections to human. This parasitic infections mostly infected to children and also touching a large proportion of the world´s population in developing countries. The malnutrition, pneumonia and anemia is the major cause of the worm infections. The Helminths infection became major challenges in developing countries due to their constant contamination of the environment with their eggs and larvae. Further, the parasitic infection are mostly neglected by the health ministry of developing countries. There are numbers of allopathic Anthelmintic drugs are available in the market but these drugs associated with side effects and sometime caused problems in the liver and kidney [1][2][3] . Hence it is necessary to develop certain alternative therapies against the parasitic infection. The natural products are found to be effective against the Helminths infection with minimum side effects.
The nature has gifted more than 350,000 medicinal plants to the globe. The Indian traditional system of medicines inspired the researchers to explore scientific study on plants which are used as a source of medicines for the treatment of the various diseases 4 .

Collection of plant material
The leaves of Justicia adhatoda, Vernonia amygdalina, Mikania micrantha and Momordica charantia were collected from the Barak Valley area of Assam. The plant parts were shade dried, reduced to coarse powder and stored in airtight container till further use.

Preparation of decoction
20 g of powdered crude drugs of Justicia adhatoda, Vernonia amygdalina, Mikania micrantha and Momordica charantia were separately mixed with 150 ml of distilled water and macerated at ambient temperature for 24 h. After 24 h the drug macerate was boiled for 45 min and filtered through muslin cloth to get a decoction. The volume of the decoction was adjusted such that 20 g of mixture gave 50 ml of the decoction 17 .

Qualitative phytochemical study
The phytochemical study was conducted for the decoction of Justicia adhatoda, Vernonia amygdalina, Mikania micrantha and Momordica charantia, and determine the presence of alkaloids, glycosides, carbohydrates, tannins, phenolic compound, flavonoids, steroid, protein, fat and oil by following the methods of Mukherjee and Harbone 18,19 .

evaluation of anthelmintic activity
The adult Indian earthworm Pheritima posthuma was used for the proposed anthelmintic study. The each group comprised six worms of each type. The two different concentration i.e. higher (without dilution) and lower concentration (dilution 1:1 with distilled water) of decoction of each plant were used for anthelmintic evaluation. The ten different groups were used to evaluate the anthelmintic activity and are mentioned below: Group A were the control group worms placed in normal saline Groups B were treated with 20 ml decoction ( Group J were treated with Albendazole (20 mg/ ml) in normal saline Observations were made for the time taken to set paralysis and death of the individual worms. Mean time for the paralysis in min was noted when no movement of any sort could be observed, except when the worm was shaken vigorously; time of death in min was recorded after ascertaining the worms neither moved when shaken vigorously nor when dipped in warm water (50 °C). Further, the Albendazole (20 mg/ml) were included as standard compound [20][21][22] .

statistical analysis
All the values of findings are presented as mean ± standard error mean (SEM).

Phytochemical screening
The qualitative phytochemical screening was performed on decoction to assess the phytochemical present in the Justicia adhatoda, Vernonia

disCussions
The Helminths infection induce severe morbidity by affecting population in autochthonous region with chief economic and social consequences. The numerous studies documented the extracts of natural products exhibited anthelmintic activity 23,24 . Hence for the present study earthworm Pheritima posthuma were selected as a model for the anthelmintic activity.
The The presence of alkaloids, polyphenol, flavonoids, tannins and saponins in plants may be responsible for the anthelmintic activity. The alkaloids induce paralysis in earthworm by its inhibitory action on the central nervous system. Consequently, tannins and polyphenol selectively bind to free proteins present in the gastrointestinal tract of host parasite or glycoprotein on the cuticle of the parasite and thereby cause deaths cause mortality [35][36][37] . In addition, these chemical constituents meddle with the energy generation by uncoupling the oxidative phosphorylation which meddle with the glycoprotein of cell surface prompts parasite demise 37 .
The prepared herbal formulation has prominent anthelmintic activity, but for safety purpose of formulation, toxicological studies will conduct in future.

ConClusion
From the findings of present study, it was concluded that the traditional use of Justicia adhatoda, Vernonia amygdalina, Mikania micrantha and Momordica charantia as an anthelmintic by local people of Barak Valley area of Assam has been scientifically confirmed as they demonstrated anthelmintic activity against the earthworms. According to reported literature, the phytoconstituents like alkaloids, polyphenol, flavonoids, tannins and saponins present in these plants may be responsible for the anthelmintic activity. Further more research is required to found the mechanism of action of anthelmintic activity for these plants, and their toxicity.

aCknowledgMents
We are thankful to Department of Pharmaceutical Science, Assam University (A Central University), Silchar, India for providing laboratory facilities for the fruitful accomplishment of the research work.