Larvicidal activity of Tagetes erecta against Aedes aegypti

• Published in: Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association Vol. 27; no. 2; p. 156
• Main Authors: Marques, Márcia M M, Morais, Selene M, Vieira, Icaro G P, Vieira, Mariano G S, Raquel, Ana, Silva, A, De Almeida, Raimundo Rafael, Guedes, Maria Izabel F
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01-06-2011
• Subjects: Aedes - drug effects; Animals; Cyclohexenes; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; Insecticides; Larva - drug effects; Lethal Dose 50; Limonene; Monoterpenes; Mosquito Control - methods; Oils, Volatile - pharmacology; Plant Oils; Tagetes - chemistry; Terpenes
• ISSN: 8756-971X
• DOI: 10.2987/10-6056.1

The aim of this study was to evaluate the activity of essential oil from Tagetes erecta against 3rd instars of Aedes aegypti and to determine the amounts of larvicidal thiophenes in all plant tissues. The oil obtained by steam distillation and analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry showed 14 compounds. The main compounds were piperitone (45.72%), D-limonene (9.67%), and piperitenone (5.89%). The essential oil was active against larvae of Ae. aegypti, with LC50 of 79.78 microg/ml and LC90 of 100.84 microg/ml. The larvicidal thiophene contents were higher in the roots and flowers as demonstrated by high-performance liquid chromatography analysis. Thus, T. erecta constitutes a good source of varied compounds showing larvicidal activity against Ae. aegypti.