in vitro study of ovicidal effect of lavender (lavandula angustifolia) extract on fasciola hepatica eggs

Fasciolosis is of considerable economic and public health importance worldwide1. in controlling this disease, the ovicidal effects of anthelmintic drugs can be quite effective. additionally, natural herbal products offer promising potential, as they contain a wide variety of medicinal ingredients that have been shown to be effective against various parasitic diseases2. in the present study, in vitro effectiveness of the extract of lavender (lavandula angustifolia) on the eggs of fasciola hepatica was investigated. fasciola hepatica eggs were collected from the gall bladders of naturally infected sheep at urmia slaughterhouse. the eggs were exposed to varies concentrations of lavender extract (1, 5, 10, 25 and 50 mg/ml) for 24, 48 and 72 h. to investigate the effect of the lavender extracts on miracidial formation, the treated eggs were incubated at 28ºc for 14 days. the results indicated that f. hepatica eggs were susceptible to the extract of lavender. the ovicidal effect of lavender extract at concentration of 1 mg/ml in 24h, 48h, and 72h was 44.02%, 52.6% and 68.09%, respectively (compared with 21.50 % for control group). one hundred percent ovicidal efficacy was obtained through application of lavender extract at concentrations of 5 mg/ml and 10 mg/ml in 72 h and 48h, respectively. the in vitro ovicidal effect of the methanolic extract of lavender was satisfactory in this study, however, in vivo efficacy of this extract, recommended for further studies.