Bioactivity guided isolation of mosquito larvicide from Piper longum.

OBJECTIVE

To isolate the larvicidal component from the fruits of Piper longum (P. longum) against the filariasis vector, Culex quinquefasciatus (C. quinquefasciatus).

METHODS

Pulverized fruits of P. longum were subjected to soxhlet extraction using series of organic solvents of increasing polarity. All the solvent extracts were verified for their larvicidal efficacy against 4th instar larvae of C. quinquefasciatus employing standard WHO procedure. Bioassay-guided fractionation through column chromatography lead to the isolation of a bioactive amide, pipyahyine from the petroleum ether extract.

RESULTS

Petroleum ether extract was found to be the most active fraction among all the extracts tested with LC(50) and LC(90) being 1.03 and 2.04 ppm respectively. Whereas, pipyahyine, an isolated component of the same fraction was found to be even more effective than the parent extract in terms of LC(50) being 0.58 and 1.88 ppm respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

From the results, it is evident that P. longum can be considered as a powerful arsenal for the control of mosquito population.