Screening of crude drugs used in Nepal for nematocidal activity on the larva of toxocara canis

Hot water extracts of 160 crude drugs used in Nepal were tested for their in vitro nematocidal activity on the second-stage larva of the dog roundworm, Toxocara cains, which is a common pathogenic parasite in larva migrans. Twenty-two of them showed a potent nematocidal activity (RM = 0, after 24 h incubation), and the activities of ''Bojho'' (rhizome of Acorus calamus L.) and ''Pan ko Jara'' (rhizome of Alpinia galanga SWARTZ) were particularly strong (RM = 0, after 6 h incubation). The active principle of Pan ko Jara was identified as [S]-1'-acetoxychavicol acetate.