Anti-mosquito properties of Pelargonium roseum (Geraniaceae) and Juniperus virginiana (Cupressaceae) essential oils against dominant malaria vectors in Africa

Abstract

Background More than 90% of malaria cases occur in Africa where the disease is transmitted by Anopheles gambiae and Anopheles arabiensis. This study evaluated the anti-mosquito properties of Juniperus virginiana (JVO) and Pelargonium roseum (PRO) essential oils (EOs) against larvae and adults of An. gambiae sensu lato (s.l.) from East Africa in laboratory and semi-field conditions. Methods EOs was extracted from the aerial green parts of Asian herbs by hydrodistillation. Their constituents were characterized by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Larvicidal activities of JVO, PRO, and PRO components [citronellol (CO), linalool (LO), and geraniol (GO)] were investigated against An. gambiae sensu stricto (s.s.). The percentage of knockdown effects and mortality rates of all oils were also evaluated in the adults of susceptible An. gambiae s.s. and permethrin-resistant An. arabiensis. Results GC-MS analyses identified major constituents of JVO (sabinene, dl-limonene, β-myrcene, bornyl acetate, and terpinen-4-ol) and PRO (citronellol, citronellyl formate, L-menthone, linalool, and geraniol). Oils showed higher larvicidal activity in the laboratory than semi-field trials. The LC50 values for JVO/PRO were computed as 10.82–2.89/7.13–0.9 ppm and 10.75–9.06/13.63–8.98 ppm in laboratory and semi-field environments, respectively at exposure time of 24–72 h. The percentage of knockdown effects of the oils were also greater in An. gambiae s.s. than in An. arabiensis. Filter papers impregnated with JVO (100 ppm) and PRO (25 ppm) displayed 100% mortality rates for An. gambiae s.s. and 3.75% and 90% mortality rates, for An. arabiensis populations, respectively. Each component of CO, LO, and GO exhibited 98.13%, 97.81%, and 87.5%, respectively, and a mixture of the PRO components indicated 94.69% adult mortality to permethrin-resistant An. arabiensis. Conclusions The findings of this study show that PRO and its main constituents, compared to JVO, have higher anti-mosquito properties in terms of larvicidal, knockdown, and mortality when applied against susceptible laboratory and resistant wild populations of An. gambiae s.l. Consequently, these oils have the potential for the development of new, efficient, safe, and affordable agents for mosquito control.

Phytochemical Screening and Comparative Larvicidal Activity of Albizia lebbeck and Tamarindus indica Leaf Extracts against Culexquinquefasciatus and Aedesaegypti

“…Different strategies have been explored to prevent the transmission of mosquito-borne diseases: targeting the vector (Niang et al, 2018), and the use of larvicides, insecticides, and repellants (Derua et al, 2018;Derua et al, 2019). Natural products have been investigated for larvicidal, insecticidal, and repellant activities due to their environmental safety, nontoxicity, specificity, and lack of damage to valuable natural insects (Yohana et al, 2022). In this study, phytochemical screening of the two plants revealed the presence of secondary plant metabolites as shown in table 1.…”

Phytochemical Composition and Bioassay on Iranian Teucrium polium Extracts against Anopheles stephensi (Diptera: Culicidae)

“…Given these facts, mosquitoes control agents from natural sources can be considered as safe and effective alternatives. Several studies introduced mosquito repellent and larvicidal activity of some extracts and essential oils of plants ( 7 – 11 , 21 – 22 ). According to these studies, the products of traditional medicine have the potential to be used successfully in mosquito control programs.…”

“…Larvicides, pupicides and ovicides treatments can also help to control transmission parameters ( 7 – 11 , 21 – 22 ). A larvicide is a type of insecticide that effects on the larval life stage of an insect and consequently, reduces the adult mosquito population in breeding areas.…”

Toxicity of plants as insecticides against human pathogenic mosquito vectors of Saudi Arabian strains—A review

“…Besides secondary metabolites of plants, essential oils from plant based origin are considered to be good mosquitocidal agent (Senthil-Nathan 2020;Yohana et al 2022). Essential oils obtained from aromatic plants, namely Monodora myristica, Xylopia aethiopica, Aframomum citratum (Nkuimi Wandjou et al 2022), medicinal plants Cymbopogon nardus, Eucalyptus globulus, Mentha arvensis, Citrus limon and Trachyspermum ammi (Kamaraj et al 2023), weeds Mikania scandens (Radhakrishnan et al 2023).…”

“…Besides secondary metabolites of plants, essential oils from plant based origin are considered to be good mosquitocidal agent (Senthil‐Nathan 2020; Yohana et al . 2022). Essential oils obtained from aromatic plants, namely Monodora myristica , Xylopia aethiopica , Aframomum citratum (Nkuimi Wandjou et al .…”