Page 155 - AWSAR 2.0

suddenly.
“No, not at all,” aghast, she almost
shouted. “Why are you asking me this?” she was surprised not expecting such a question. “Look, I know there are no lice in your hair,” I promptly pacified her. “But you know there are lice-like creatures found in the skin and hair of pet animals like dogs, cats and cows.
“Oh, really!” she was now curious.
“Yes, just like lice in our hair there are certainorganisms,calledticks,whichreside as an ecto-parasite in the outer skin and fur of animals also. “As India is an agrarian country and a large fraction of population is dependent on farming. The farmers raise cattle for different purposes. There are dairy farms where cattle are bred on a large scale for commercial production of milk. But, in such places, there is a huge problem of tick infestation in the cattle which lowers the milk production by almost 50 per cent. The ticks cause itching and wounds in the skin of the animals, like the lice
in our head. They also spread
many diseases in animals. For
the treatment of ticks, synthetic
chemicals are used and these
chemicals are very harmful to
the animals as well as humans.
Millions of dollars are spent
in the treatment of tick and
ticks borne diseases (TTBDs)
throughout the world. Therefore,
I am trying to develop a plant-
based formulation to control
ticks.”
“Oh, the ticks are very painful to the animals,” she said recalling the itching caused by the lice in her hair. “How can the plants kill ticks found on the animals,” was her next query.
“Yes, they can. The plants are very rich source of medicines and people have been using them since time immemorial. Ayurveda
Mr. Bhanu Kumar || 131
is our age-old traditional system of medicine in which medicinal properties of many plants have been described. What we do in our lab is to identify plants for their biological activity, based on the nature of phytochemicals present in them. We go to the field and collect plants from their natural habitats. We bring them back to the laboratory, chop them in small pieces, dry them under shade and prepare plant extracts in suitable solvents. We use chromatographic techniques like High Performance Thin Layer Chromatography (HPTLC), and High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) to separate, identify and quantify bioactive marker compounds. Since the ticks are very sturdy and do not get killed or come out easily from the skin of the animals, very potent plant extract is required. Therefore, we have to screen many plants for their chemical constituents and biological activity.”
“Have you found a plant which can remove the ticks from animals,” she was curious to know about the
remedy for the ticks.
“Yes, we have,” I replied
recalling the names of different plants we had worked on for a potential anti-tick solution. We screened more than thirty plants for their antitick potential and narrowed down the list to six plants. Finally, ‘Jungli pudina’ (Ageratum conyzoides L.) was identified as the most suitable plant for pilot-scale experiments. It is a weed with small purple coloured flowers in bunches and a characteristic odour. It is easily available growing as monoculture in fields and possesses potent antitick
activity. Therefore, we selected this plant in order to look for commercial prospection. We collaborated with a premier institute of veterinary sciences to validate its antitick potential. I,
The ticks cause itching and wounds in the skin of the animals, like the lice in our head. They also spread many diseases in animals. For the treatment of ticks, synthetic chemicals are used and these chemicals are very harmful to the animals as well as humans. Millions of dollars are spent in the treatment of tick and ticks borne diseases (TTBDs) throughout the world.