Phytochemical composition and larvicidal activity of Litsea glutinosa crude leaf extract against the virus-transmitting mosquito, Aedes aegypti (L.)

Abstract

© 2017, IndianJournals.com. All rights reserved. The leaves of Litsea glutinosa, a widespread medicinal plant endemic to tropical Asia, were sampled for phytochemical screening. Chemical solvents of different polarities, namely ethyl acetate, dichloromethane and methanol, were used to serially extract phytochemicals from dried L. glutinosa leaf samples. Our results showed that the methanolic fraction of the plant extract contained terpenoids, phenolics and substantially high amounts of saponins. The presence of saponins was further confirmed by Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC) and the total saponin content measured from the crude extract reached 21.37%. The same extract was then tested for larvicidal activity on 3rdinstar Aedes aegypti larvae and a lethal concentration 50 (LC50) was assessed at 15.43 g/L. The toxicity of the crude extract to mosquito larvae was possibly also due to the combined effects of different phytochemicals that were present in the crude leaf extract. Our research, however, suggests that the crude extract of L. glutinosa leaves could be used as a potential biological control agent against Ac. aegypti mosquito larvae, thereby replacing the currently used environment-harmful synthetic chemicals.