Antiparasitic Activity of Medicinal Food Plants (Allium sativum, Punica granatum, and Carica papaya) against Intestinal Parasites: Phytochemical, Nutritional, and In Vitro Evaluation

The extraction was performed using ۸۰% ethanol (maceration for ۷۲ hours at room temperature) and distilled water (decoction at ۱۰۰°C for ۳۰ minutes). The extraction yields for ethanolic extracts were: A. sativum ۱۲.۴%, P. granatum ۱۸.۷%, C. papaya ۱۰.۲% (w/w dry weight). All three extracts were found to contain alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, phenols, terpenoids and saponins from the qualitative phytochemical screening. The quantitative analysis showed that P. granatum ethanolic extract had the highest total phenolic content (۲۸۷.۶ ± ۱۲.۴ mg GAE/g DW), total flavonoid content (۱۳۴.۲ ± ۶.۷ mg QE/g DW) and total tannin content (۹۸.۷ ± ۴.۸ mg TAE/g DW). Proximate nutritional analysis performed according to AOAC methods revealed that the protein content of A. sativum (۶.۴ ± ۰.۳%) was significantly higher than those of the other species while the vitamin C content of C. papaya (۶۱.۸ ± ۳.۴ mg/۱۰۰ g) was significantly higher than those of the other species. P. granatum was found to be the most active against all the parasites used in this study, with the lowest IC₅₀ value of ۱.۴ ± ۰.۰۹ mg/mL against G. lamblia trophozoites, followed by A. sativum (۲.۸ ± ۰.۱۸ mg/mL) and C. papaya (۵.۲ ± ۰.۳۱ mg/mL). The positive controls used were metronidazole (IC₅₀ ۰.۸ ± ۰.۰۴ mg/mL for Giardia and Entamoeba), nitazoxanide (IC₅₀ ۱.۲ ± ۰.۰۶ mg/mL for Cryptosporidium), and pyrimethamine (IC₅₀ ۱.۸ ± ۰.۰۹ mg/mL for Toxoplasma).

کلیدواژه ها:

Antiparasitic activity ، Allium sativum ، Punica granatum