The Edible Mushroom Pleurotus djamor Produces Metabolites with Lethal Activity Against the Parasitic Nematode Haemonchus contortus

Pleurotus djamor is an edible mushroom that has medicinal properties. This study aimed to assess the in vitro activity of P. djamor extracts and fractions against Haemonchus contortus eggs and exsheathed infective larvae (L₃). Crude hydroalcoholic extracts were obtained by maceration and fractions were obtained through chromatography. Metabolite identity was determined using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis. The results showed that P. djamor extracts had no significant activity against eggs at the concentrations used. However, the extract showed 98.7% and 77% larval mortality 72 h postconfrontation at 320 and at 160 mg/mL, respectively. The chromatography analysis resulted in 23 fractions that were eventually grouped into three fractions (E1, E2, and E3). These fractions showed the following egg hatching inhibition percentages: E1 = 100, E2 = 38.7, and E3 = 5.5 at 10 mg/mL concentration 72 h postexposure. Likewise, larval mortality percentages after this period were 90.6, 100, and 0.44 at 40 mg/mL (P < .05), respectively. The GC-MS showed five major compounds in E1 fraction, including four fatty acids: (i) pentadecanoic, (ii) hexadecanoic, (iii) octadecadienoic, (iv) octadecanoic acid, and one terpene identified as β-sitosterol. We concluded that the edible mushroom P. djamor possesses nematicidal metabolites, which could be used as an alternative anthelmintic treatment.