Nature helps: food addition of micronized coconut and onion reduced worm load in horses and sheep and increased body weight in sheep.
Abstract: Intense laboratory tests on experimentally infected mice and rats had shown that a mixture of micronized onions and coconut pulp decreases substantially (until disappearance) the worm load (trematodes, cestodes and nematodes) after oral uptake. As a consequence, feeding experiments of naturally infected sheep had been done in Egypt, in Saudi Arabia, and in Germany, which showed that treated animals grow up much better than untreated ones. The mean gain of body weight per animal was up to 6 kg within 4 weeks compared to untreated ones. These experiments were repeated again in the present study with naturally infected sheep and horses in Germany. Two types of professionally produced forage had been used: (1) mixture of 40% micronized onions, 40% coconut flakes, and 20% glucose besides sugar beet treacle; (2) mixture of 25% coconut flakes, 25% micronized onions, and 50% of the so-called muesli forage of Fa. Höveler, Dormagen, Germany consisting of some oils plus 20 different plant extracts and several vitamins. All experiments showed that feeding for 10 days led either to the full disappearance of the previously existing worm load or at least to an enormous reduction. When comparing the body weights of infected sheep before the start of the feeding and 4 weeks later, it was found that there was an increase of 5-8 kg (mean 7.5 kg) body weight in each treated animal, while nontreated ones had only weight increases between 0 and 5 kg (mean 2.37 kg). In the case of the horse treatment, the worm load decreased so enormously that mostly only single eggs or larvae were found in those horses that had accepted the onion-coconut food addition.
Publication Date: 2013-11-24 PubMed ID: 24271156DOI: 10.1007/s00436-013-3706-7Google Scholar: Lookup
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- Journal Article
Summary
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This research article focuses on the examination of the effects of a specific natural, food additive mixture comprised of micronized onion and coconut flakes on reducing parasitic worm loads in horses and sheep, and its impact on weight gain in sheep.
Introduction and Background
- The initial part of the article provides a brief context to the study by recapping previous laboratory tests that were carried out on mice and rats, which noted a significant decrease in worm load following oral uptake of the onion and coconut mixture.
- The basis for the current research had been experiments of naturally infected sheep in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Germany. The outcomes of these studies were positive, showing that treated animals grew better than untreated ones – the average weight increase was up to six kilograms within a month in comparison to untreated animals.
- A recap of these experiments formed the basis for the current study, which was carried out in Germany.
Experimentation
- Two types of forage were produced and used: the first was a mix of 40% micronized onions, 40% coconut flakes, and 20% glucose, along with sugar beet treacle. The second type composed of 25% coconut flakes, 25% micronized onions, and half of muesli forage from Fa. Höveler, Dormagen, in Germany, comprising oils, different plant extracts, and vitamins.
- All trials showed that feeding the mixtures for ten days either entirely eliminated the existing worm load or led to a substantial reduction.
- When the body weights of infected sheep were compared before feeding and after four weeks, an increase of 5-8 kilograms was observed in the treated animals. This was better than the zero to five-kilogram weight increase observed in untreated animals.
Results
- For the treatment in horses, the worm load decreased so significantly that only single eggs or larvae were found in those horses that had accepted the onion-coconut food addition.
- This suggested that the natural food additives of coconut and onion significantly enhanced the health of the animals by reducing their worm load and increasing their weight gain, particularly for sheep.
- One key implication of this research is the potential of using the micronized onion and coconut mixture as a natural deworming measure, promoting the general health of livestock—representing a potential alternative to harsh chemical treatments.
Cite This Article
APA
Jatzlau A, Abdel-Ghaffar F, Gliem G, Mehlhorn H.
(2013).
Nature helps: food addition of micronized coconut and onion reduced worm load in horses and sheep and increased body weight in sheep.
Parasitol Res, 113(1), 305-310.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-013-3706-7 Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- Tierarztpraxis, Blomericher Weg 3, Ratingen, Germany.
MeSH Terms
- Animal Feed
- Animals
- Body Weight
- Cestoda
- Cocos
- Egypt
- Female
- Horses / parasitology
- Male
- Nematoda
- Onions
- Parasite Egg Count
- Parasitic Diseases, Animal / prevention & control
- Plant Extracts
- Sheep, Domestic / parasitology
- Trematoda
References
This article includes 12 references
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Citations
This article has been cited 3 times.- Du H, Erdene K, Chen S, Qi S, Bao Z, Zhao Y, Wang C, Zhao G, Ao C. Correlation of the rumen fluid microbiome and the average daily gain with a dietary supplementation of Allium mongolicum Regel extracts in sheep1. J Anim Sci 2019 Jul 2;97(7):2865-2877.
- Emamat H, Foroughi F, Eini-Zinab H, Taghizadeh M, Rismanchi M, Hekmatdoost A. The effects of onion consumption on treatment of metabolic, histologic, and inflammatory features of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. J Diabetes Metab Disord 2015;15:25.
- Deori K, Yadav AK. Anthelmintic effects of Oroxylum indicum stem bark extract on juvenile and adult stages of Hymenolepis diminuta (Cestoda), an in vitro and in vivo study. Parasitol Res 2016 Mar;115(3):1275-85.
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