Traditional herbal remedies and dietary spices from Cameroon as novel sources of larvicides against filariasis mosquitoes?

• Published in: Parasitology research (1987) Vol. 115; no. 12; pp. 4617 - 4626
• Main Authors: Pavela, Roman, Maggi, Filippo, Mbuntcha, Hélène, Woguem, Verlaine, Fogang, Hervet Paulin Dongmo, Womeni, Hilaire Macaire, Tapondjou, Léon Azefack, Barboni, Luciano, Nicoletti, Marcello, Canale, Angelo, Benelli, Giovanni
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01-12-2016; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Animals; Anopheles - drug effects; Anopheles - growth & development; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Cameroon; Cancer; Chemical composition; Cineole; Culex - drug effects; Culex - growth & development; Culex quinquefasciatus; Dichrostachys cinerea; Echinops; Essential oils; Filariasis; Filariasis - transmission; Flavorings; Food additives; Health aspects; Herbal medicine; Herbs; Immunology; Insect Vectors - drug effects; Insect Vectors - growth & development; Insecticides - chemistry; Insecticides - pharmacology; Instars; Larva - drug effects; Larva - growth & development; Larvicides; Medical Microbiology; Methods; Microbiology; Mosquito control; Mosquito Control - methods; Oils & fats; Oils, Volatile - chemistry; Oils, Volatile - pharmacology; Original Paper; Pericarp; Pests; Pinene; Plant Extracts - pharmacology; Plant Leaves - chemistry; Plant viruses; Prevention; Sabinene; Seeds; Spices; Spices - analysis; Terpinene; Toxicity; Traditional medicine; West Nile virus; Cameroon; Rift Valley fever; West Nile virus; Essential oil; Dichrostachys cinerea; Echinops giganteus; Aframomum daniellii; Culex quinquefasciatus
• ISSN: 0932-0113; 1432-1955
• DOI: 10.1007/s00436-016-5254-4

In Cameroon, many dietary spices are used by traditional healers to cure several diseases such as cancer and microbial infections.
Aframomum daniellii
,
Dichrostachys cinerea
and
Echinops giganteus
are Cameroonian spices widely used as flavourings and as food additives. Moreover, they are traditionally herbal remedies employed to treat several diseases, as well as to control populations of insect pests. In this research, we analysed the chemical composition of
A. daniellii
,
D. cinerea
and
E. giganteus
essential oils and we evaluated their larvicidal potential against larvae of the filariasis and West Nile virus vector
Culex quinquefasciatus
. The essential oils were obtained from different plant parts by hydrodistillation and their composition was analysed by GC-MS. The three spices exhibited different volatile chemical profiles, being characterized by 1,8-cineole, sabinene and β-pinene (
A. daniellii
), geraniol and terpinen-4-ol (
D. cinerea
), and silphiperfol-6-ene and presilphiperfolan-8-ol (
E. giganteus
). Results showed that the highest larvicidal toxicity on
Cx. quinquefasciatus
was exerted by
D. cinerea
essential oil (LC
50
 = 39.1 μL L
−1
), followed by
A. daniellii
(pericarp essential oil: LC
50
 = 65.5 μL L
−1
; leaves: LC
50
 = 65.5μL L
−1
; seeds: LC
50
 = 106.5μL L
−1
) and
E. giganteus
(LC
50
 = 227.4 μL L
−1
). Overall, the chance to use the
D. cinerea
essential oil against
Cx. quinquefasciatus
young instars seems promising, since it is effective at moderate doses and could be an advantageous alternative to build newer mosquito control tools.