Telfairia occidentalis Hook. F. (Cucurbitaceae) is well known in West Africa as a staple vegetable.
It is used among various tribes of Nigeria to manage various conditions such as sexual impotence, maintenance
of prostate gland, urinary and digestive disorders and it is also used as immune-stimulant and vermifuge.
Vegetables have been known to harbour parasites. The aim of this work is to determine the level, type of
intestinal parasites on the leaves and the diagnostic characters of the plant for proper identification. Fifty-one
samples of leaves cultivated in flooded and unflooded areas in Amassoma were collected between April and
August 2013 and the parasites isolated by standard microscopic methods. The microscopy of the leaves was
carried out. The most prevalent parasite was Ascaris lumbricoides (44%) followed by Trichuris trichiura (17%),
Entamoeba coli (12%), Hookworm (7.%) while the least was Strongyloides stercoralis (2%). The samples from
flood affected areas showed a higher prevalence rate of 20% than those from flood free areas for Ascaris
lumbricoides. All the parasites except hookworm were present in the samples sold in the market. Anomocytic
stomata were present in the lower surface of leaves other diagnostic characters present in the leaves include
glandular, multicelled glandular trichomes, covering trichomes, prsims of calcium oxalate crystals and starch
granules. The study shows that Ascaris lumbricoides is the major intestinal contaminant of Telfairia
occidentalis vegetable consumed in Amassoma, Nigeria.