Antiparasitic Tannin-Rich Plants from the South of Europe for Grazing Livestock: A Review
Pablo Rodríguez-Hernández,
Carolina Reyes-Palomo,
Santos Sanz-Fernández,
Pablo José Rufino-Moya,
Rafael Zafra,
Francisco Javier Martínez-Moreno,
Vicente Rodríguez-Estévez,
Cipriano Díaz-Gaona
Affiliations
Pablo Rodríguez-Hernández
Department of Animal Production, Cátedra de Producción Ecológica Ecovalia-Clemente Mata, UIC ENZOEM, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, International Agrifood Campus of Excellence (ceiA3), University of Córdoba, Campus de Rabanales, 14071 Córdoba, Spain
Carolina Reyes-Palomo
Department of Animal Production, Cátedra de Producción Ecológica Ecovalia-Clemente Mata, UIC ENZOEM, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, International Agrifood Campus of Excellence (ceiA3), University of Córdoba, Campus de Rabanales, 14071 Córdoba, Spain
Santos Sanz-Fernández
Department of Animal Production, Cátedra de Producción Ecológica Ecovalia-Clemente Mata, UIC ENZOEM, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, International Agrifood Campus of Excellence (ceiA3), University of Córdoba, Campus de Rabanales, 14071 Córdoba, Spain
Pablo José Rufino-Moya
Animal Health Department (Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases), UIC ENZOEM, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, International Agrifood Campus of Excellence (ceiA3), University of Córdoba, Campus de Rabanales, 14071 Córdoba, Spain
Rafael Zafra
Animal Health Department (Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases), UIC ENZOEM, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, International Agrifood Campus of Excellence (ceiA3), University of Córdoba, Campus de Rabanales, 14071 Córdoba, Spain
Francisco Javier Martínez-Moreno
Animal Health Department (Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases), UIC ENZOEM, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, International Agrifood Campus of Excellence (ceiA3), University of Córdoba, Campus de Rabanales, 14071 Córdoba, Spain
Vicente Rodríguez-Estévez
Department of Animal Production, Cátedra de Producción Ecológica Ecovalia-Clemente Mata, UIC ENZOEM, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, International Agrifood Campus of Excellence (ceiA3), University of Córdoba, Campus de Rabanales, 14071 Córdoba, Spain
Cipriano Díaz-Gaona
Department of Animal Production, Cátedra de Producción Ecológica Ecovalia-Clemente Mata, UIC ENZOEM, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, International Agrifood Campus of Excellence (ceiA3), University of Córdoba, Campus de Rabanales, 14071 Córdoba, Spain
Internal parasites are one of the main causes of health threats in livestock production, especially in extensive livestock farming. Despite the environmental toxic effects (loss of dung beetles, biodiversity, and other issues) and resistance phenomenon derived from their prolonged use, anti-parasitic chemical pharmaceuticals are frequently used, even in organic farming. Such a situation within the context of climate change requires urgent exploration of alternative compounds to solve these problems and apparent conflicts between organic farming objectives regarding the environment, public health, and animal health. This review is focused on some plants (Artemisia spp., Cichorium intybus L., Ericaceae family, Hedysarum coronarium L., Lotus spp., Onobrychis viciifolia Scop.) that are well known for their antiparasitic effect, are voluntarily grazed and ingested, and can be spontaneously found or cultivated in southern Europe and other regions with a Mediterranean climate. The differences found between effectiveness, parasite species affected, in vitro/in vivo experiments, and active compounds are explored. A total of 87 papers where antiparasitic activity of those plants have been studied are included in this review; 75% studied the effect on ruminant parasites, where gastrointestinal nematodes were the parasite group most studied (70%), and these included natural (31%) and experimental (37%) infections.
