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Phytochemical composition of Heracleum nepalense D. Don fruit extracts and its activity against the larvae of Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae)

International Journal of Tropical Insect Science volume 40, pages 373–383 (2020)Cite this article

Abstract

Mosquito borne diseases pose a major threat to human health in India. But, these diseases lack vaccines and proper medication thereby leaving vector management as the best alternative for their control. Moreover, vector control is facing a huge challenge due to insecticide resistance development in them. Phytochemicals seem to have a future scope in ecofriendly vector management programs. Therefore, this study was done to assess the larvicidal activity of 4 different solvent extracts of the fruits of Heracleum nepalense, from the hill region of Darjeeling District of West Bengal against larvae of Aedes albopictus, Skuse. Larval mortality was observed after 24 h, 48 h and 72 h of exposure. Almost all the solvent extracts of the plant showed some amount of mortality. Among them diethyl ether extract showed 100% mortality at 200 ppm within 24 h followed by n-hexane, acetone and methanol extracts. GC-MS analysis showed the presence of different types of terpenoids such as Cadina-1(10), 4 diene (5.44%) and caryophyllene oxide (1.28%) in diethyl ether extract and 5-Caranol, (1S,3R,5S,6R)-(−)- (12.8%) and alpha copaenes (2.19%) in methanolic extract. In addition, diethyl ether extract contained furanocoumarins [(R)-9-((3,3-Dimethyl-2-oxiranyl)methoxy)-4-methoxyfuro(3,2-g)chromen-7-one (18.11%), Bergapten (4.77%), Phellopterin (2.82%)] which are specially synthesized by plants to defend themselves against herbivores. The outcome of the present study revealed that fruits of Heracleum nepalense possess great potential to be used as larvicide against Aedes albopictus larvae.

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Acknowledgements

The authors express their sincere thanks to the Head, Department of Zoology, University of North Bengal, for providing laboratory facilities and funds from the departmental budget allocation. Authors are thankful to the Systematics and Taxonomy laboratory, Department of Botany, University of North Bengal, West Bengal, India for the identification of the plant species. Thanks are also expressed to the University of North Bengal for providing uninterrupted LAN (Local Area Network) that has helped immensely in searching and collecting related information. Analytical Intruments Research Facility (AIRF), Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi for GC-MS analysis services.

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This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Laboratory, Department of Zoology, University of North Bengal, District – Darjeeling, Siliguri, West Bengal, 734013, India

    Abhisekh Subba, Minu Bharati, Priyanka Rai & Dhiraj Saha

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  1. Abhisekh Subba
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Correspondence to Dhiraj Saha.

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Subba, A., Bharati, M., Rai, P. et al. Phytochemical composition of Heracleum nepalense D. Don fruit extracts and its activity against the larvae of Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae). Int J Trop Insect Sci 40, 373–383 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42690-019-00088-5

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Keywords

  • Phytochemical
  • Larval bioassay
  • Vector control
  • Aedes albopictus