IN-VITRO ANTHELMENTIC EFFICACY OF PUMPKIN SEED OIL (CUCURBITA PEPO) ON TOXOCARIOSIS (TOXOCARA CATI)

The present study was conducted to evaluate the efficiency of pumpkin seed oil on embryonic and larval development of Toxocara cati eggs. The eggs were extracted from uterus of female T. cati worms. For embryonic and larval development, the eggs were suspended with 2.5% formalin-ringer solution maintained at 25°C and 80% humidity. After 35 days of incubation, 83.5% of the eggs developed into larvae. Twenty-five ml of pumpkin seed oil added into each suspension containing eggs and developed larvae, separately. The result showed that, the eggs were only developed into two cells stage in rates of 61.9% and 43.2% at first and fourth week of incubation, respectively. The rate of undeveloped eggs was 35.7% and 56.75% at first and fourth week, respectively. The effect of pumpkin seeds oil on second stage developed larvae in showed that, the rate of live larvae was 38.2% and dead larvae was 61.75% at first week and 12.8% and 87.17% at second week. In control group, 84% of the eggs developed into larvae at the fourth week of incubation period. The results revealed that, pumpkin seed oil has a high anthelmintic efficacy against Toxocara cati and it can be used as an effective traditional herbal medicine for treatment of helminthiases.