Larvicidal activity of Blumea eriantha essential oil and its components against six mosquito species, including Zika virus vectors: the promising potential of (4E,6Z)-allo-ocimene, carvotanacetone and dodecyl acetate

Abstract

The effective and environmentally sustainable control of mosquitoes is a challenge of essential importance. This is due to the fact that some invasive mosquitoes, with special reference to the Aedes genus, are particularly difficult to control, due to their high ecological plasticity. Moreover, the indiscriminate overuse of synthetic insecticides resulted in undesirable effects on human health and non-target organisms, as well as resistance development in targeted vectors. Here, the leaf essential oil (EO) extracted from a scarcely studied plant of ethno-medicinal interest, Blumea eriantha (Asteraceae), was tested on the larvae of six mosquitoes, including Zika virus vectors. The B. eriantha EO was analyzed by GC and GC-MS. The B. eriantha EO showed high toxicity against 3rd instar larvae of six important mosquito species: Anopheles stephensi (LC=41.61 μg/ml), Aedes aegypti (LC=44.82 μg/ml), Culex quinquefasciatus (LC =48.92 μg/ml), Anopheles subpictus (LC=51.21 μg/ml), Ae. albopictus (LC=56.33 μg/ml) and Culex tritaeniorhynchus (LC=61.33 μg/ml). The major components found in B. eriantha EO were (4E,6Z)-allo-ocimene (12.8%), carvotanacetone (10.6%), and dodecyl acetate (8.9%). Interestingly, two of the main EO components, (4E,6Z)-allo-ocimene and carvotanacetone, achieved LC lower than 10 μg/ml on all tested mosquito species. The acute toxicity of B. eriantha EO and its major constituents on four aquatic predators of mosquito larval instars was limited, with LC ranging from 519 to 11.431 μg/ml. Overall, the larvicidal activity of (4E,6Z)-allo-ocimene and carvotanacetone far exceed most of the LC calculated in current literature on mosquito botanical larvicides, allowing us to propose both of them as potentially alternatives for developing eco-friendly mosquito control tools.

Larvicidal Activity of Secondary Plant Metabolites in Aedes aegypti Control: An Overview of the Previous 6 Years

“…63 The karanjin (32) and karanjachromene (37) flavonoids were reported as strong inhibitors of AChE from mosquito larvae indicating it to be the presumable site of larvicidal action. The same results were observed for oleic (12), linoleic (38), linolenic (40), and palmitic (55) fatty acids. The fatty acids linoleic (38), linolenic (40), elaidic (51), arachidic (58), and behenic (62) presented to have an effect on the octopaminergic system.…”

Larvicidal and pupicidal evaluation of silver nanoparticles synthesized using Aquilaria sinensis and Pogostemon cablin essential oils against dengue and zika viruses vector Aedes albopictus mosquito and its histopathological analysis

“…Further Benelli, G. et al [40] reported acute toxicity of montana essential oil and four other plant essential oils on C. quinquefasciatus larvae. Similarly, it has been reported that EO extracted from the leaves of B. eriantha showed high toxicity against third instar larvae of Anopheles, Aedes and Culex species, with LC 50 ranging from 41.61 to 61.33 lg/ml [41]. The susceptibility of the Asian tiger mosquito larvae to the Cannabis sativa and Humulus lupulus essential oils with LC 50 values of 302 and 331 lg/l respectively were observed [42].…”

Biocompatible green synthesized silver nanoparticles impact on insecticides resistant developing enzymes of dengue transmitted mosquito vector

“…There are few alternate methods have been used preferentially such as botanicals, entomopathogenic fungus and aquatic predator etc. [3][4][5][6]. At present, nanotechnology have been widely used in all fields, especially, the silver nanoparticles are used in various field research, including pharmaceutical industries to develop a best anti-microbial drugs, agriculture, bio labeling, parasitology and pest management [7,8].…”