Cassia sieberiana DC. (Caesalpiniaceae), Guiera senegalensis JF. Gmel (Combretaceae) and Excoecaria grahamii (Hochst) Pax. (Euphorbiaceae) are used in traditional medicine in Burkina Faso to treat gastro-intestinal parasites. Standard methods were used for phytochemical screening and to evaluate the in vitro anthelmintic activity of the aqueous extracts of the three (3) plants using the egg hatch test against Haemonchus contortus eggs. The phytochemical analysis revealed the presence of anthocyanosides, tannins, saponosides, reducing compounds, carbohydrates, flavonoids and triterpenic steroids in the extracts of the root bark of C. sieberiana and the leaves of C. sieberiana, G. senegalensis and E. grahamii. All extracts inhibited significantly (p< 0.05) the eggs hatch of H. contortus. At the concentration of 14.25 mg/mL, the percentages of inhibition varied from 60.33 ± 8.43 to 76.6 ± 4.91%. These results indicate that the studied plants possess anthelminthic activities and thus justify their use for the treatment of gastrointestinal parasites infections.

 

Key words: Anthelmintic activity, medicinal plants, phytochemical, in vitro, Haemonchus contortus, Burkina Faso.