In vitro Anthelmintic Activity of Chitosan Encapsulated Bromelain against Eggs, Larval and Adult Stages of Haemonchus contortus

The objective of this study was to evaluate in vitro ovicidal, larvicidal and adult mortality activity of bromelain encapsulated in chitosan nanocarriers against H. contortus. Bromelain was isolated from peels of ripe pineapple from Kiambu County, Kenya. Isolation of bromelain was conducted with several stages of fractionations with ammonia sulphate salt and dialysis. Encapsulation of bromelain was done by use of methyl cellulose-chitosan in order to control release and activity. The encapsulated chitosan nanocarriers were then subjected to in vitro ovicidal, larvicidal and adult mortality activity according to standard procedures. The results of the assays showed that encapsulated bromelain had an IC50 of 0.249 mg/ml, 0.251 mg/ml and 0.140 mg/ml on the egg hatch, larval and adult worm mortality assays, respectively. All these values showed better activity than bromelain although there was no significant difference (p˃0.05) between activities of encapsulated bromelain and bromelain. There was also a significant difference (p<0.05), between Albendazole and the rest of the test drugs. In conclusion, this study has shown that encapsulated bromelain has anthelmintic activity on different developmental stages of H. contortus parasite and that it should be further investigated and developed as a novel anthelmintic drug for control of H. contortus and hence improve production of small ruminants.