Characterization of Some Medicinal Plants and Their Role in Mosquito Control

Abstract

Background & Objectives: Culex quinquefasciatus causes millions of deaths every year being the vector of many serious human diseases like Elephantiasis, and West Nile fever and may lead to serious problems to health. Chemical insecticides are quite effective to control mosquitoes but they pose certain major problems like the development of resistance and ecological imbalance. Therefore, plant products are now being screened all over the world for vector control. The present study evaluated the potential of Datura stramonium and Morus alba against Culex quinquefasciatus Material and Method: The GCMS analysis was led to investigate the presence of major compounds in the extracts. Different bioassays against the IV th instar larvae of Culex quinquefasciatus were carried out. Seven different concentrations of the Datura stramonium and Morus alba extract were performed to get LC50. Mortality, data was calculated by the Log-probit method of Finney (Finney 1971) using SPSS.16 (SPSS 2010) following Abbott method. Results: GC-MS analysis indicated that Datura stramonium shows 23 While Morus alba showed 6 major chemical compounds. The petroleum ether extracts of Datura stramonium and Morus alba, showed LC50 at 54.18 ppm and 133.47 ppm respectively after 24 hours. Whereas LC50 after 48 hrs is recorded at 37.08 ppm in Datura stramonium and 122.46 ppm in Morus alba against Culex quinquefasciatus. At 55 ppm, Datura stramonium showed ovicidal activity at 59.24%, ovipositional activity at 89.70% and adulticidal activity at 49.6%. On the other hand, Morus alba at 135 ppm exhibited 39.01% ovicidal activity, 79.30% ovipositional activity and 52%. adulticidal activity. Conclusion: It is concluded that the petroleum extract of Datura stramonium is more effective against Culex quinquefasciatus as compared to the petroleum extract of Morus alba and can be used to control the population of Culex quinquefasciatus.