Intestinal worms

African birch

Anogeissus leiocarpa

Used against helminths by traditional healers and livestock keepers. In artificially infected sheep, leaf powder cut Haemonchus contortus egg output by about 88% and adult worms by about 63%, less than albendazole (100%). No human studies.

African peach

Sarcocephalus latifolius

Fulani herders in Nigeria use the leaf to deworm animals; two leaf alkaloids, vincosamide and strictosamide, killed Haemonchus worms in vitro without harming mammalian cells below 200 µg/ml.

Bridelia

Bridelia ferruginea

Bark is used as a vermifuge and, in Congo, for roundworm; aqueous bark extract paralysed and killed earthworms in vitro, more slowly than piperazine.

Brimstone tree

Morinda lucida

Used against intestinal parasites; leaf extracts killed nematodes (Haemonchus contortus, C. elegans) in the laboratory.

Bushman's poison

Acokanthera oppositifolia

Batswana farmers give a leaf decoction to livestock for internal parasites; leaf extracts were active against the nematode C. elegans in vitro.

Cape myrtle

Myrsine africana

Fruits and seeds are a traditional anthelmintic, used in Ethiopia for childhood ascaris and in Kenya for helminthosis. However, tests in sheep at 50 g and 125 g per animal found no significant activity against Haemonchus contortus; no human studies.

Chinaberry

Melia azedarach

Used in Chinese medicine since the Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing for 'destroying parasites' and recorded as Ascaris-repellent; its limonoid toosendanin has been a clinical anti-Ascaris drug in China since the 1950s. King's American Dispensatory (1898) called the root bark anthelmintic and widely used in the US South. Poisoning risk is high.

Danti

Baliospermum montanum

Ayurveda describes the root as anthelmintic. Alcohol and water extracts paralysed and killed earthworms and roundworms from fowl in the lab at 100 mg/ml, a crude screening test only; no human studies were found.

Desert date

Balanites aegyptiaca

Seeds are widely used in African human and veterinary medicine against intestinal parasites, and parts of the tree are also used for bilharzia. Aqueous seed extracts killed Heligmosomoides larvae and C. elegans in the laboratory, with the saponin balanitin-7 proposed as the active agent; no human trials.

Dwarf red ironwood

Lophira lanceolata

Leaf and bark extracts killed the cattle filarial worm Onchocerca ochengi and the nematode C. elegans in the lab, and extracts reduced egg hatching and larval movement of the mouse gut worm Heligmosomoides polygyrus. The authors present this as support for healers' use against worms; there is no clinical testing.

Elephant's root

Elephantorrhiza elephantina

Used for gastrointestinal parasites in livestock. Aqueous root extracts stopped egg hatching and larval development of the sheep nematode Haemonchus contortus in the lab, comparable to albendazole. No human data.

Enkoko

Embelia schimperi

A commonly consumed anthelmintic in Ethiopia, used above all for tapeworm. In surveys it scored the maximum fidelity level (100%) for tapeworm among Oromo informants in Kofale, and it is used for tapeworm in northeast Ethiopia. Fruit extracts have shown anthelmintic activity in experimental studies, but no controlled human trials were found.

Epazote

Dysphania ambrosioides

In a 2001 randomised trial in 60 children in Huaraz, Peru, paico juice (1–2 ml/kg for 3 days) cleared Ascaris eggs in 86.7% of children, the same rate as a single dose of albendazole, and also cleared dwarf tapeworm (Hymenolepis nana); adverse effects occurred in 23.3% in both groups. In the Dominican Republic and elsewhere it has been used against intestinal worms for centuries. Lab studies attribute the effect mainly to ascaridole.

False abura

Mitragyna inermis

Leaves are widely used in West African veterinary medicine against stomach worms of sheep and goats; the authors of a lab study measured anthelmintic activity of leaf extracts. No human data.

False black pepper

Embelia ribes

A 2022 review reports clinical trials in children with roundworm (Ascaris) in which an alcoholic fruit extract cleared eggs from the stool in 80% of cases and an aqueous extract in 55%, without reported side effects, and further use against tapeworm and giardia with single doses of up to 8 g. The original trials are old and their design is not described in detail.

Flame of the forest

Butea monosperma

The seed is an Ayurvedic and folk anthelmintic. Crude seed powder given to sheep with gut roundworms (1–3 g/kg) cut faecal egg counts by up to 78.4% after 10 days, against 99.1% for the drug levamisole. Palasonin has been identified as the active principle of the seeds. No human trials were found, and the seeds are toxic.

Flixweed

Descurainia sophia

Listed as an anthelmintic in Persian sources. A seed extract given for 7 days cleared dwarf tapeworm (Hymenolepis nana) infection in mice. No human data.

Ginger bush

Tetradenia riparia

Used by Rwandese people for worm infections. The leaf diterpene 8(14),15-sandaracopimaradiene-7α,18-diol killed the model nematode C. elegans in vitro (IC50 5.4 µg/ml).

Kamala tree

Mallotus philippensis

Ayurveda uses kamala with milk or curd to expel tapeworms. Kamala resin killed tapeworms in rats (36% and 78% at 60 and 120 mg/kg), fruit extract cured rats of Hymenolepis diminuta, and powdered fruit was effective against gut tapeworms in Beetal goats. No controlled human trials were found.

Kosso

Hagenia abyssinica

Ethiopian healers give powdered female flowers to expel tapeworms. In a comparative study of 33 traditional anthelmintic plants in volunteers with beef tapeworm (Taenia saginata), kosso ranked among the most effective for dose and expulsion time. No modern randomised trials exist; reviewers call for trials before it can be recommended.

Kurchi

Holarrhena pubescens

Used for intestinal parasites in traditional Indian medicine; a stem bark extract was active against poultry tapeworms (Raillietina) in laboratory studies.

Lotus sweetjuice

Glinus lotoides

Repeatedly recorded in Ethiopian ethnobotanical surveys as a tapeworm remedy, with 100% fidelity among informants in one district. Seed extracts showed taenicidal activity against Taenia saginata in vitro and against the dwarf tapeworm Hymenolepis nana in vitro and in animals. No published human trials were found.

Mountain knotgrass

Aerva lanata

Used as a vermifuge for children in Sri Lanka. An ethanolic extract was more active than albendazole against a tapeworm and an earthworm in a laboratory test. There are no human data.

Natal mahogany

Trichilia emetica

Bark or root decoctions are used for intestinal worms and tapeworm. In a screen of South African plants used for urinary schistosomiasis, T. emetica extract killed schistosomula of Schistosoma haematobium in vitro. Laboratory work only.

Papaya

Carica papaya

In a pilot trial in 60 Nigerian children, an elixir of dried papaya seeds with honey cleared intestinal parasites from stools in 77% vs 17% with honey alone, with no harmful effects reported.

Purple fleabane

Baccharoides anthelmintica

Tribes in Odisha, India, give the seeds to children as a worm remedy. Seed and whole-plant extracts were active against the ruminant stomach worm Haemonchus contortus in vitro and in vivo (including in buffaloes), and an extract reduced movement and survival of the filarial worm Setaria cervi ex vivo. No human trials.

Rangoon creeper

Combretum indicum

The fruit is used in Chinese medicine for 'killing parasites', and leaf and root extracts were used as anthelmintics. Seed extracts killed ascarids and flukes in laboratory tests and leaf extracts were active against earthworms; no clinical trials were found.

River pumpkin

Gunnera perpensa

Used against intestinal worms in people and animals in Lesotho and South Africa. In village chickens an aqueous leaf extract reduced Heterakis gallinarum egg counts by 71–100%.

Voacanga

Voacanga africana

Alkaloids isolated from the stem bark (voacangine, voacamine and others) stopped the movement of microfilariae and adult male worms of Onchocerca ochengi, a cattle relative of the river-blindness parasite, in the laboratory (IC50 about 2.5–18 µM). There is no animal or human testing.

White wormwood

Artemisia herba-alba

Used in folk medicine as an anthelmintic; a 2020 study reports in vitro anthelmintic activity of crude extracts against the sheep stomach worm Haemonchus contortus (title only seen).

Wild custard apple

Annona senegalensis

Nigerian livestock farmers and traditional veterinary healers use it as a dewormer. Extracts reduced hatching of Haemonchus contortus eggs and larval recovery in faecal culture, especially with ground whole plant, and aqueous extracts killed Onchocerca ochengi filarial worms in the test tube.

Wild dagga

Leonotis leonurus

Used for intestinal worms, constipation and digestive problems. A leaf diterpenoid, leoleorin C, had only moderate activity against a free-living lab nematode.

Abalo

Brucea antidysenterica

Roots, fruits and bark, and leaf powder taken with water, are used for intestinal worms in Ethiopian folk medicine.

African basil

Ocimum gratissimum

Used against gastrointestinal worms in people and animals (Sofowora, Nigeria).

African moringa

Moringa stenopetala

Healers in southern Ethiopia add leaf powder to meals for 7 days against intestinal worms. Flowers are also used for worms.

African potato

Hypoxis hemerocallidea

Traditionally used for intestinal parasites, urinary infections, barrenness, impotence, bad dreams and 'insanity'.

Ammoniac

Dorema ammoniacum

Most of the Persian texts recommend it against intestinal worms; Iranian folk medicine also uses it as an anthelmintic.

Areca nut

Areca catechu

Used against intestinal parasites in traditional Chinese and South Asian medicine. Its alkaloid arecoline (as arecoline hydrobromide) was once widely used to treat tapeworm in dogs, but doses that worked caused vomiting and convulsions, and it is now essentially no longer used as a dewormer.

Atis

Aconitum heterophyllum

The tubers are used for worm infestations in Himalayan traditional medicine.

Avaram

Senna auriculata

Tender fruits are Krimihara (anthelmintic) in the Kaiyadeva Nighantu, and the fruits are used for worm infections in Indian folk medicine.

Birch polypore

Fomitopsis betulina

The tea was a folk antiparasitic remedy, and the fungus contains agaric acid, which is toxic to whipworm (Trichuris trichiura). It has been speculated that Ötzi the Iceman carried it as a laxative to expel whipworm; this is conjecture.

Bitter leaf

Gymnanthemum amygdalinum

Used in African folk medicine against intestinal worms. Chimpanzees in the Mahale Mountains, Tanzania, ingest the pith when suffering parasite-related illness, and its sesquiterpene lactones and steroid glycosides showed antiparasitic activity in laboratory tests; there are no human trials.

Bitter melon

Momordica charantia

Among the traditional uses WHO records, with anaemia, arthritis, colds, fever, gout, kidney stones, peptic ulcers and stomach ache; none has been tested clinically.

Blackthorn

Prunus spinosa

The flowers are recorded as a traditional vermicide.

Carqueja

Baccharis crispa

The most frequently reported native species in Brazilian ethnopharmacological books for treating intestinal worms; clinical confirmation is lacking.

Cascara sagrada

Frangula purshiana

Hesquiat people of Vancouver Island gave children bark decoction, infusion or chewed bark for worms; no clinical testing.

Chiretta

Swertia chirayita

Decoctions are used against intestinal worms.

Christ's thorn jujube

Ziziphus spina-christi

Fruit, seed or leaf infusions are used as an anthelmintic by Arabs, Bedouins and Iraqi Jews and in Morocco.

Costus

Dolomiaea costus

Unani medicine employs the root as an anthelmintic; no clinical studies found.

Durian

Durio zibethinus

The flesh is said to act as a vermifuge; this rests on folk report only.

East Indian globe thistle

Sphaeranthus indicus

Seeds and roots are recorded as anthelmintic and stomachic; no clinical testing found.

False unicorn root

Chamaelirium luteum

Described as vermifuge in King's American Dispensatory; no modern testing found.

Fever bush

Dicoma anomala

The root is recorded as a treatment for intestinal worms in Lesotho, Malawi and South Africa.

Five-leaved chaste tree

Vitex negundo

In Indian folk medicine, decoctions of the root are used against intestinal worms.

Flame lily

Gloriosa superba

Folk medicine in tropical Africa and Asia records it as a remedy against worms and parasites. There are no clinical studies.

Flowering dogwood

Cornus florida

Cherokee healers gave children an infusion of the bark for worms and also used it as a bath. A compound infusion of bark and root was used for childhood illnesses such as worms and measles.

Galbanum

Ferula gummosa

Iranian ethnobotanical surveys record it as an anthelmintic and for liver cysts. Not clinically tested.

Garden angelica

Angelica archangelica

Recorded among Nordic folk de-worming plants (seeds and root, for people and horses); no scientific validation.

Garden cress

Lepidium sativum

In Ethiopia the macerated seeds are taken with injera for intestinal worms, nausea and vomiting, cramps and poor appetite. Not tested clinically.

Genipap

Genipa americana

Pataxó Hãhãhãi people in Bahia, Brazil, take a decoction of the fruit for worms; reviews also list anthelmintic activity in laboratory work. No clinical trials.

Grains of paradise

Aframomum melegueta

Identified in Togo as a plant traditionally used for helminth infections; extracts paralysed and killed adult Taenia tapeworms in the laboratory. No human studies.

Grains of Selim

Xylopia aethiopica

Identified in Togo as traditionally used for helminth infections; fruit extract fractions paralysed Taenia tapeworms in the laboratory.

Guava

Psidium guajava

WHO lists traditional use for worms, abdominal pain, cough, bleeding gums, wounds, ringworm and vaginitis. These uses have not been tested clinically.

Indian acalypha

Acalypha indica

In South and Southeast Asia the leaves are eaten fresh or cooked as an anthelmintic, among other uses. No clinical evidence.

Indian coral tree

Erythrina variegata

In India the leaf juice is mixed with honey and taken for tapeworm, roundworm and threadworm, according to a 2010 review; isoflavonoids from the plant showed anthelmintic activity in the lab. No human trials were found.

Indian hemp

Apocynum cannabinum

Menominee, Mi'kmaq and Penobscot people took root decoctions or infusions to expel worms. Not tested clinically.

Ipecacuanha

Carapichea ipecacuanha

WHO records traditional use against parasites; emetine has anti-amoebic and anthelmintic activity, but it is no longer used because of toxicity.

Japanese apricot

Prunus mume

Used in TCM for vomiting and abdominal pain from roundworm (Ascaris) infection, notably in the formula wu mei wan; no modern trials.

Levant wormseed

Artemisia cina

Santonin from the flower heads expelled roundworms (Ascaris) effectively and became the 19th-century drug of choice; medical missionaries used it widely in China. Recent research on A. cina extracts targets worms of sheep (Haemonchus contortus) in the lab.

Male fern

Dryopteris filix-mas

A 'well-known and age-old remedy for intestinal parasites' in Europe, used as filicin for tapeworm (taeniasis) in 20th-century medicine; a 1953 Cuban report described substituting a hexylresorcinol mixture for it. No modern trials; its toxicity makes it obsolete.

Mandravasarotra

Cinnamosma fragrans

Bark used for intestinal parasites in south-eastern Madagascar; untested.

Mapacho

Nicotiana rustica

Amazonian purging preparations and enemas are used for intestinal parasites and tobacco ointment for skin parasites; Cherokee healers used it as an anthelmintic.

Masterwort

Peucedanum ostruthium

In 1806 Swedish peasants were recorded giving small children rhizome powder twice a day to prevent intestinal worms; in the lab ostruthin with isoimperatorin was active against a model nematode.

Mayapple

Podophyllum peltatum

The Cherokee used the root as an anthelmintic; Hartwell (1951) noted Podophyllum had long been used as an anthelmintic and cathartic.

Mexican marigold

Tagetes erecta

Used against intestinal parasites in Mexico and as a vermifuge in Yucatán; Brunfels recorded the seeds for expelling worms. Antiparasitic activity has been reported only in laboratory studies.

Moringa (Drumstick tree)

Moringa oleifera

A 2022 systematic review records its use in South Asian and African folk medicine for helminth infections, paralysis, sores and skin infections, with little clinical data.

Muña

Minthostachys mollis

Peruvian folk medicine uses it for intestinal parasites. No supporting studies were found.

Night jasmine

Nyctanthes arbor-tristis

Leaf juice is a traditional remedy for intestinal worms, given with a little sugar to children; anthelmintic use is one of its most popular folk uses. Not clinically tested.

Pineapple

Ananas comosus

Folk records describe juice of young fruit as a vermifuge and high doses of leaf juice as a purgative; neither has been tested clinically.

Pinkroot

Spigelia marilandica

Cherokee decoctions and infusions of the root were taken for worms, and Cherokee and Creek used it as a general vermifuge. Benjamin Smith Barton (1802) reported it often effective against worms in his practice. It has never been tested in controlled studies.

Pomegranate

Punica granatum

Decoctions of the stem and root bark were a standard 19th-century treatment for tapeworm; WHO notes the alkaloid pelletierine makes the worm relax its grip on the gut wall so a purgative can expel it. The bark is toxic.

Pumpkin

Cucurbita pepo

The seeds were eaten for tapeworms and other worms by the Cherokee and are listed by WHO among traditional uses; the constituent cucurbitine is anthelmintic in animal studies, but there are no modern clinical trials.

Quassia

Quassia amara

Used as a vermifuge in Creole medicine.

Red bitterberry

Strychnos henningsii

In South African muthi-market practice the bark is used as an anthelmintic and for schistosomiasis.

Rue

Ruta graveolens

In Iran it is called a 'cure-all', used among other things as an anti-parasitic.

Sassafras

Sassafras albidum

Cherokee gave a bark infusion to children with worms; Iroquois used a compound infusion with whisky for tapeworm.

Shampoo ginger

Zingiber zerumbet

In Malay folk medicine the juice of the boiled rhizome is given to children with worms; no studies in people were found.

Sichuan pepper

Zanthoxylum bungeanum

A key Chinese herb for expelling roundworms (Ascaris), most famously in Wumei Pill from the Shang Han Lun; the Pharmacopoeia lists it for abdominal pain from parasites. Its essential oil paralyses insects in laboratory work; no human trials were found.

Snake bean

Bobgunnia madagascariensis

Used against schistosomiasis (bilharzia) in Lubumbashi.

Soursop

Annona muricata

Crushed seeds are used against internal and external worms and parasites, and the fruit against worms and parasites.

Stemless carline thistle

Carlina acaulis

A historical anthelmintic use of the root, also recorded for worm infections in Bosnia.

Stool wood

Alstonia boonei

The cold bark infusion is given to children to expel roundworms and threadworms.

Syrian oregano

Origanum syriacum

Ibn Sina credited it with a strong anthelmintic effect, and al-Antaki listed it as an anthelmintic; no modern human data.

Tamarind

Tamarindus indica

Softened seeds are used against intestinal worms in Ethiopia. Proven anthelmintic medicines should be used instead.

Tansy

Tanacetum vulgare

Its best-known traditional use, recorded from Syria, Brazil, Lithuania and the Cherokee (given to children for worms). Extracts and the essential oil killed sheep nematode larvae and Schistosoma mansoni worms in the laboratory; there are no human studies, and the thujone content makes self-treatment hazardous.

Teak

Tectona grandis

Leaves are reputed to be vermifuge and are used for schistosomiasis; proven anthelmintic medicines are the treatment.

Tobacco

Nicotiana tabacum

Recorded as a Cherokee anthelmintic; a Peruvian Amazonian tobacco healer listed intestinal and skin parasites among his main indications.

Wild carrot

Daucus carota

The aromatic seeds were used as a vermifuge in Lebanon, and the plant is recorded as anthelmintic.

Myrrh

Commiphora myrrha

A myrrh extract (Mirazid) was marketed in Egypt for schistosomiasis, a parasitic worm infection. In a randomised trial of 104 people, cure rates were 15.6% after one course and 8.9% after a second, versus about 74–76% with praziquantel; the authors said this raised serious doubt that it works.