Comparative effect of lemon seeds and albendazole a veterinary anthelmintics on gastrointestinal parasites of farmed grasscutter: case of breeding grasscutter in southern Benin

Résumé

The financial damage caused by parasitic diseases in “farmed grasscutter breeding” is important and seriously affects the profitability of this activity.  Apart from toltrazuril (7mg/kg) and Ganidan (sulfonamides) used in intestinal infections at a rate of 2 tablets/day for 3 days per os), grasscutter breeders frequently use lemon seeds extracted from the fruit twice a day to treat their animals.  The objective of this study was to compare the efficacy of lemon seeds and albendazole, a veterinary anthelmintic, on gastrointestinal parasites of grasscutter. The medothology adopted is to assess the effects of lemon seeds compared to albendazole on gastrointestinal parasites of grasscutter. Using the quantitative method of Mac Master, a coprological analysis of 118 samples of grasscutter feces was carried out in station. The efficacy of lemon seeds was compared to albendazole on the basis of OPG (eggs per gram). Coprological examinations showed a considerable decrease in OPG from 7000 to 200 with the use of albendazole at a dose of 7.5 mg/kg body weight and lemon seeds extracted from the fruit at a dose of 0.25 mg/kg to 30 mg/kg body weight. This study showed that lemon seed extract is as effective as albendazole for the treatment of gastrointestinal parasites in grasscutter farming. It opens perspectives for further research on lemon seeds in order to develop a bioactives molecules with anthelmintic properties.

Keywords: Grasscutter, Lemon seeds, Albendazole, Anthelmintic properties, Benin.