Larvicidal Efficacy and GC-MS Analysis of Hyptis suaveolens Leaf Extracts against Anopheles Species

Mosquitoes are the most important group of insects in terms of public health importance, which transmit serious human diseases. The continuous application of synthetic insecticides to control these mosquitoes causes development of resistance in vector species, and an adverse effect on environmental quality and non-target organisms including human health. Therefore, the use of active toxic agents from plant extracts as alternative mosquito control strategy cannot be over emphasized, as these are non-toxic, easily available at affordable prices, biodegradable and show target - specific activities against different species of vector mosquitoes. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the larvicidal efficacy of the aqueous and methanol leaf extracts of H. suaveolens against the fourth instars larvae of Anopheles species. Standard WHO protocols was adopted for the larvicidal bioassay. Larvicidal activity was evaluated at concentrations of 200, 400, 600, 800 and 1000 mg/L. The larval mortality was observed after 24 and 48hours bioassay. The results are mean of three replicates and the mortalities recorded were subjected to chi-square test and probit analysis to determine median lethal concentrations (LC50). TheGC-MS analysis ofthe methanolic leaf extract of the plantrevealed the presence of twelve compounds on the chromatogram. Among the major compounds areOleic Acid (33.33%), Octadecanoic acid (13.52%), 1,3-Cyclohexadiene-1-methanol,alpha.,2,6,6-(10.42%), 1,3-Cyclopentanediol, trans (9.60%), n-Hexadecanoic acid (9.01%) and 4-Hepten-3-one, 4-methyl (7.0%).The phytochemical screening of the aqueous and methanol leaf extracts of the plant revealed the presence of Tannins, Terpenoids, Flavonoids, Steroids, Carbohydrates, Cardiac glycoside and resins. The LC50 values estimated were 316.22mg/Lfor methanol extract and 323.59 mg/L for aqueous extract. The differences between the two extracts were however not significantly different at P>0.05. The findings also revealed that mortality was concentration dependent and both extracts showed promising larvicidal activity against Anopheles species larvae. Therefore, the crude leaf extract of the plant is recommended to be used as alternative to synthetic larvicides and further research is needed to test the activity of the plant on non-target organisms.