USE OF CARICA PAPAYA SEEDS IN A SUSPENSION FOR THE TREATMENT OF INTESTINAL PARASITIC WORMS

ABSTRACT

The seeds of a tropical fruit Carica papaya have been proven to have anthelminthic activity. The main component in the seeds responsible for this activity is Benzyl isothiocyanate. It is effective against parasites such Ascaris lumbricoides, Strongyloides stercoralis, Taenia saginata and so on. The research focus on formulating an anthelminthic medicine from papaya seeds that can be gotten easily. The Carica papaya seeds were gotten from fresh papaya fruit and dried below 41oC. The dried seed gotten was grinded, sieved and incorporated into a suspension. The formulation is in form of a suspension for administration to children from 2-6 years of age. The suspension form is easy to be administered to children. The characteristic quality of the suspension from the result conforms to the pharmaceutical suspension desired features.

KEY WORDS: Carica papaya; Benzyl isothiocyanate; suspension; anthelminthic; parasites

OUTLINE 

INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………………1 

PART ONE: LITERATURE REVIEW 

1.1  CARICA PAPAYA………………………………………………………….2 

1.1.1 Taxonomy and morphology………………………………………..2 

1.1.2 Pharmacological properties…………………………..……………3 

1.1.3 Benzyl isothiocyanate………………………………………………4 

1.2  Parasites……………………………………………………………………5 

1.2.1 Symptoms of parasitic infection…………………………………...5 

1.2.2 Parasitic Life Cycles………………………………………………..5 

1.2.3 Common intestinal worms that can be treated with Carica papaya 

seeds………………………………………………………………………..6 

1.3  Suspension…..…………………………………………………………….7 

1.3.1 Definition…..…………………….…………………...……………...7 

1.3.2 Purpose of formulation of suspension……………………….……8 

1.3.3 Desired features in pharmaceutical suspension……………..…..8 

PART TWO: PRACTICAL PHASE AND RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 

2.1  SITE OF STUDY ENVIRONMENT……………………………………….9 

2.2  MATERIALS……………………………………………………………...10 

2.3  METHODOLOGY………………………………………………………...10 

  2.3.1 Collection of the Carica papaya seeds…………………………..10 

  2.3.2 Preparation of the Carica papaya seeds………………………...10 

  2.3.3 Formulation of the suspension…………………………….……..11 

PART THREE: RESULT AND DISCUSSION 

3.1  RESULT………………………………………………………………..…16 

3.2  DISCUSSION………………………………………………………….…18 

CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………….….…20 

REFERENCES……………………………………………………………….…21 

 

 

LIST OF FIGURES 

Figure 1: Carica papaya with its seeds………………………………………….2 

Figure 2: Chemical structure of Benzyl isothiocyanate………………………..3 

Figure 3: Direct and indirect general life cycle of parasites…………………..6 

LIST OF TABLES 

Table 1: Chemical constituents of papaya seed……………………………….3 

Table 2: Chemical properties of Benzyl isothiocyanate……………………….4 

Table  3:  Description  of  the  Regional  laboratory  of  production  processes 

IRGIB-Africa………………………………………………………………………9 

Table 4: Experimental result of a suspension preparation using flour as the 

suspending solid………………………………………………………………...16 

Table 4: Characteristic quality of the final suspension………….……..……17 

 

 

LIST DIAGRAMS 

Technical diagram of carica papaya suspension…………………………….12 

Flow sheet of Carica papaya seed suspension..…………………………......14