Assessment of the Phytotoxicity and Antifeedant Properties of Aristolochia bracteolata Lamk. Leaf Extracts and their Derivatives against the Spotted Bollworm, [Eariasvittella (Fab.)], (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)
M. Pavunraj *
Department of Zoology, Vivekananda College, Affiliated to Madurai Kamaraj University (MKU), Tiruvedakam West, Madurai District – 625 234, India.
G. Ramasubbu
Department of Zoology, Saiva Bhanu Kshathriya College (SBK), Affiliated to Madurai Kamaraj University (MKU), Aruppukkottai – 626 101, Virudhunagar District, India.
P. Ezhumalai
Department of Zoology, Dwaraka Doss Goverdhan Doss Vaishnav College, Chennai – 600 106, India.
K. Nagarajan
Department of Animal Science, Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, Tirunelveli – 627 012, India.
S. Rajeshkumar
Nanobiomedicine Lab, Centre for Global Health Research, Saveetha Medical College andHospitals, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences, Saveetha University, Chennai – 602 105, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
The phytopesticidal effects of various solvent crude extracts and isolated fractions from the leaves of Aristolochia bracteolata, which were tested for their antifeedant and larvicidal activities on the fourth instar larvae of the shoot and fruit of Earias vittella.The antifeedant and larvicidal activities were performed by fruit disc no-choice methods at 0.625, 1.25, 2.5, and 5% and 125, 250, 500, and 1,000 ppm concentrations for crude and fractions, respectively. The dichloromethane (DCM) extract of A. bracteolata exhibited the maximum antifeedant (61.10%) and larvicidal (65.33%) activities at 5% concentration against E. vittella, followed by hexane (44.93%), acetone (40.40%) and aqueous (22.25%) extracts. It was subjected to fractionation using silica gel column chromatography with different combinations of hexane and ethyl acetate used as the mobile phase. Among the six fractions obtained, fraction 6 showed the maximum antifeedant (78.32%) and larvicidal (81.77%) activities against E. vittella at a 1000 ppm concentration. The preliminary phytochemical analysis of the plant also showed alkaloids, anthroquinones, diterpenoids, flavonoids, glycosides, polyphenols, saponins, steroids, and tannins in the extract. A. bracteolata leaves could be complemented with an eco-friendly pesticide/insecticide for an integrated pest management strategy.
Keywords: Antifeedant, larvicidal activity, Aristolochia bracteolata, Earias vittella, plant extracts, phytochemical screening, eco-friendly pesticide