Evaluation of mosquitocidal activity of essential oil and sesquiterpenes from leaves of Chloroxylon swietenia DC.

Abstract

Growing awareness in using ecofriendly and biologically compatible phytoconstituents as natural insecticides and repellents for the safety of life and ecological balance led to conscientious efforts by scientists all over the world to search for alternative sources of plant derivatives for effective use as mosquitocides. Encouraged by this, the essential oil and the sesquiterpenes isolated from the leaves of Chloroxylon swietenia DC. were screened for mosquitocidal activity by fumigant toxicity against three mosquito species, Anopheles gambiae, Culex quinquefasciatus and Aedes aegypti. The essential oil had pronounced mosquitocidal activity with LD50 of 1.0, 1.2 and 1.7 x 10(-3) mg/cm(-3), respectively, for the three vector species. Furthermore, the major sesquiterpenes were tested at different doses, which again showed varying levels of toxicity. However, germacrene D performed better and proved to be the potential candidate with LD50 values of 1.8-2.8 x 10(-3) mg/cm(-3) followed by pregeijerene and geijerene. Nevertheless, the oil and the isolated compounds were particularly active against A. gambiae. The essential oil from the leaves was obtained by hydrodistillation, and the chemical composition was determined by GC and GC-MS. The main compounds identified were limonene, germacrene D, geijerene, pregeijerene, trans-beta-ocimene and methyl eugenol. The present study indicates that the oil and the isolated compounds of C. swietenia displayed remarkable mosquitocidal activity suggesting that the method could be extended for future field trials in various mosquito control programmes, and the results are compared with synthetic insecticides.

Functional Expression of an Orchid Fragrance Gene in Lactococcus lactis

“…In terms of bioactivity, germacrene D has been reported to have insecticidal effects against mosquitoes [34] and to repel aphids [35]. However, it is an attractant to the Tobacco Mudworm Moth, Heliothis virescens [36].…”

Larvicidal activity of synthesized copper(II) complexes againstCulex quinquefasciatusandAnopheles subpictus

“…Mosquitoes also cause allergic responses in humans that include local skin and systemic reactions such as angioedema [3,4]. Culex quinquefasciatus and its complex isomorphic sibling species Anopheles subpictus are major public health problems in India, with around 31 million cases of microfilaraemia, 23 million cases of symptomatic filariasis and about 473 million individuals potentially at risk of infection [4][5][6][7][8][9]. The most medically important species C. quinquefasciatus and A. subpictus breed in water polluted with organic debris, such as rotting vegetation, household refuse and excreta.…”

Effect of Chloroxylon swietenia Dc bark extracts against Culex quinquefasciatus, Aedes aegypti, and Anopheles stephensi larvae

“…The mosquito larvicidal efficacy of Ch. swietenia leaf crude extracts (Jayaraman et al 2015) and leaf essential oil (Ravi kiran et al 2006;Ravi Kiran and Sita Devi 2007;Krishnappa and Elumalai 2012) have shown promising results. However, mosquito larvicidal efficacy of Ch.…”