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Abstract
Papaya (Carica papaya) seeds were extracted in an aqueous buffer or in organic solvents,
fractionated by chromatography on silica and aliquots tested for anthelmintic activity
by viability assays using Caenorhabditis elegans. For all preparations and fractions
tested, anthelmintic activity and benzyl isothiocyanate content correlated positively.
Aqueous extracts prepared from heat-treated seeds had no anthelmintic activity or
benzyl isothiocyanate content although both appeared when these extracts were incubated
with a myrosinase-containing fraction prepared from papaya seeds. A 10 h incubation
of crude seed extracts at room temperature led to a decrease in anthelmintic activity
and fractionated samples showed a lower benzyl isothiocyanate content relative to
non-incubated controls. Benzyl thiocyanate, benzyl cyanide, and benzonitrile were
not detected in any preparations and cyanogenic glucosides. which were present, could
not account for the anthelmintic activity detected. Thus, our results are best explained
if benzyl isothiocyanate is the predominant or sole anthelmintic agent in papaya seed
extracts regardless of how seeds are extracted.