Folha de bananeira (Musa spp.) como vermífugo alternativo para ovinos no Amazonas

Abstract

Gastrointestinal parasites have shown a great challenge for sheep in Brazil, due to the treatment of resistance in regards to anti-parasitic drugs. In these circumstances, the banana leaf is referred to as a natural anthelmintic potential. The banana leaf being able to become an alternative, preventive, curative and continuous method with natural and low cost characteristics, and being able to be used as a herbal remedy because of the presence of tannins condensed in its composition and which act directly or indirectly on any mechanism of action of parasitic gastrointestinal nematodes of sheep. Thus, the study was developed with the antihelminthic potential of the Tap Maeo banana plant, classified in natura. Twenty-one Santa Inês sheep, naturally infected with gastrointestinal nematodes, were used at the Experimental Farm of the Federal University of Amazonas. As sheep were divided into three groups of seven animals, being; GI: Control; GII: chemical vermifuge Ripercol L * 150 F in the dose of 1 mL / 10 Kg, and GIII: banana leaf. For group 2 the animals received doses of the medication subcutaneously, with a 21 day interval for the application. For group III, the animals received 4 kg of leaves per day for three consecutive days, a subsequent interval of 21 days, followed by a further delivery of leaves for another 3 consecutive days. Every seven days, all the animals in the experiment were weighed and evaluated. Every 14 days, blood was collected from all the animals for analysis. Evaluation of the leaves took place on days 7, 14, 21, 28 and 35, post-treatment. The following results were made so that the animals of group III could be compared with the OPG and weight gain, which could be related to the presence of condensed tannins in the banana leaf tested as a phytotherapic for the treatment of verminosis in sheep.

Key words: OPG, sheep, condensed tannins, famacha.