2Communicable Disease Research Laboratory, Department of Zoology, St Joseph’s college, Irinjalakuda
Keywords: Aedes aegypti; Vector mosquitoes; medicinal plant; larvicidal efficacy; plant extracts
Mosquito control – targeting its larvae remains the most effective approach to prevent various mosquito borne diseases [17]. Control of such ailments is ending up progressively troublesome be-reason for expanding resistance in mosquitoes to synthetic insecticides [18]. Plant derived products are safer than synthetic insecticides [19].
Several people use either synthetic or plant based repellents to protect them from mosquito transmitting diseases. Bed nets treated with insecticide and indoor residual spraying may also be used for preventing mosquito-borne diseases [3,17,20-23]. Active, frequent use of synthetic insecticides in farming and health programs may leads to various harmful results such as ecosystem destabilization, environmental pollution, hazardous effects to human beings and non target organisms [24,25].
Use of plant based insecticides against mosquitoes becoming a significant approach for the prevention of various mosquito transmitted diseases because of a number of advantages rather than artificial repellents [26,27].
Plant derived products with insecticidal activity have been used in the recent years to control different types of vectors [28].Various methods have been implicated to control mosquito population. One of the methods to prevent mosquito transmitting disease is by killing its larvae at larval stage. The modern mosquito control method is based on artificial insecticides [29].
World Health Organization in 2008 reported that 80 percentage of population of some countries in Asia and Africa may use traditional medicines to cure various diseases due to monetary and environmental constrain. Traditional medicines are used to maintain health by preventing various severe diseases based on knowledge, experience and practice [30].
Extracts of plants constitute various bio active phyto compounds; hence they can be used as alternative approach to mosquito larval control. Many scientific studies have proven that the plant extracts or plant derived products can be used as an alternate approach to control mosquito population [31-33].
Various vector borne diseases can be prevented by means of traditionally used medicinal plants. Hence, the demand for traditional medicines is enhancing as they are usually recognized to be bio degradable, natural, safer than synthetic drugs [34]. Thus, searching for natural insecticides is of greatest significance in vector control. This study focused on screening of few traditionally used medicinal plants for their larvicidal efficacy against dengue fever vector Aedes aegypti to develop an efficient, natural, biodegradable insecticide of plant origin.
S No. |
Plant Name |
Family |
Local Name |
Parts used |
GPS |
|
Latitude |
Longitude |
|||||
1 |
Sphaernthus indicus |
Asteraceae |
Adakkamaniyan |
Seed |
11°53'29.20"N |
76° 0'59.00"E |
2 |
Hydrocotyle javanica |
Apiaceae |
Eranga |
Leaf |
11°53'29.50"N |
76° 0'34.20"E |
3 |
Deris trifoliate Lour |
Fabaceae |
Thuduthuduppankayi |
Leaf |
11°53'29.40"N |
76° 0'34.20"E |
4 |
Persicaria hydropiper |
Polygonaceae |
Kovvanenji |
Leaf |
1°53'25.00"N |
76° 0'50.40"E |
5 |
Acanthospermum hispidum |
Asteraceae |
Nherinjil |
Leaf |
11°53'27.80"N |
76° 0'47.80"E |
6 |
Drymaria cordata |
Caryophyllaceae |
Odivally |
Leaf |
11°53'21.14"N |
76° 0'59.64"E |
7 |
Toddelia asiatica |
Rutaceae |
Narinarakam |
Leaf |
11°53'7.30"N |
76° 0'38.90"E |
8 |
Plectranthus hadiensis |
Lamiacea |
Bhaya |
Leaf |
11°53'23.00"N |
76° 1'1.90"E |
9 |
Triumfetta rhomboidea |
Malvaceae |
Kodithoova |
Leaf |
11°53'27.64"N |
76° 0'47.59"E |
S No. |
Plants tested |
Petroleum ether |
Acetone |
Methanol |
Water |
1 |
Sphaernthus indicus |
- |
- |
- |
- |
2 |
Hydrocotyle javanica |
- |
- |
- |
- |
3 |
Deris trifoliate Lour. |
- |
- |
- |
- |
4 |
Persicaria hydropiper |
+ |
+ |
+ |
+ |
5 |
Acanthospermum hispidum |
- |
- |
- |
- |
6 |
Drymaria cordata |
- |
- |
- |
- |
7 |
Toddelia asiatica |
- |
- |
- |
- |
8 |
Plectranthus hadiensis |
+ |
+ |
+ |
+ |
9 |
Triumfetta rhomboidea |
- |
- |
- |
- |
Plants |
Acetone |
Methanol |
Petroleum ether |
Water |
||||
LC50 |
LC90 |
LC50 |
LC90 |
LC50 |
LC90 |
LC50 |
LC90 |
|
Persicaria hydropiper |
658.005 |
5572.689 |
489.278 |
4121.964 |
750.326 (494.333-1763.542) |
5023.5 |
773.69 |
8120.726 |
Plectranthus hadiensis |
432.238 |
4555.766 |
500.655 |
3452.934 |
411.746 |
2250.134 (1194.474-10160.482) |
485.791 (295.213-1112.471) |
5512.748 |
Extracts of plants contain various active phyto compounds; hence they can be used as alternative approach to mosquito larval control. Many scientific studies have proven that plant derived products can be used as an alternate approach to control mosquito population [31,32].
The finding of the present investigation indicated that Persicaria hydropiper can be used as an alternative to synthetic insecticides to control mosquito transmitting diseases. The petroleum ether, methanol, acetone and water extract of Persicaria hydropiper showed highest mortality against fourth instar larvae of Aedes aegypti. Similarly Plectranthus hadiensis showed potential mortality againt fourth instar larvae of Aedes aegypti. The remaining plant species such as Sphaernthus indicus, Hydrocotyle javanica, Deris trifoliate Lour, Acanthospermum hispidum Drymaria cordata, Toddelia asiatica, Triumfetta rhomboidea comparitvely showed less mortality than the other two plant species.
The present investigation obviously proved that the leaf extracts of Plectranthus hadiensis and Persicaria hydropiper has remarkable larvicidal property against Aedes aegypti vector mosquitoes. The flora vegetation of India has prosperous aromatic plant diversity; hence they can be used for the development of natural insecticides for controlling mosquito population and to prevent mosquito transmitting diseases. The results from the present investigation might encourage the search for novel, natural insecticides offering an alternative to synthetic insecticeds from traditionally used medicinal plants. The leaf extracts of Plectranthus hadiensis and Persicaria hydropiper have the potential to be used as an ideal approach for the mosquito control programmes.
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