Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Essential Oil Composition and Larvicidal Activity of Clinopodium gracile (Benth) Matsum (Labiatae) Aerial Parts against the Aedes albopictus Mosquito

Xu Bo Chen¹, Xin Chao Liu², Ligang Zhou³, Zhi Long Liu²

¹College of Ecology, Lishui University, Zhejiang Province, 323000, China; ²Department of Entomology; ³Department of Plant Pathology, China Agricultural University, 2 Yuanmingyuan West Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100193, China.

For correspondence:- Zhi Liu Email: zhilongliu@cau.edu.cn Tel:+861062732800

Received: 15 June 2013 Accepted: 1 June 2013 Published: 18 October 2013

Citation: Chen XB, Liu XC, Zhou L, Liu ZL. Essential Oil Composition and Larvicidal Activity of Clinopodium gracile (Benth) Matsum (Labiatae) Aerial Parts against the Aedes albopictus Mosquito. Trop J Pharm Res 2013; 12(5):799-804 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v12i5.21

© 2013 The authors.
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Abstract

Purpose: To determine larvicidal activity of essential oil derived from Clinopodium gracile (Benth.) Matsum. (Labiatae) aerial parts against the larvae of Aedes albopictus SkuseA294;

Methods: Essential oil of C. gracile aerial parts was obtained by hydrodistillation and analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The activity of the essential oil was evaluated, using World Health Organization (WHO) procedures, against the fourth larvae of A. albopictus for 24 h and larval mortality recorded at a various essential oil concentrations ranging from 12.5 – 200.0 μg/mL.

Results: A total of 34 components of the essential oil of C. gracile were identified. The essential oil has higher content of sesquiterpenoids (70.49 %) than monoterpenoids (12.21 %). The other principal compounds of the essential oil were germacrene D (20.59 %), nootkatone (8.22 %), morillol (7.74 %), β-elemene (7.38 %), α-bergamotene (6.08 %), cis-β-farnesene (5.47 %) and caryophyllene (5.17 %). The essential oil exhibited larvicidal activity against A. albopictus with a median lethal concentration (LC₅₀) of 42.56 μg/mL.

Conclusion: The findings obtained indicate that the essential oil of C. gracile has potentials for use in the control of A. albopictus larvae and could be useful in the search for new, safer and more effective natural compounds as larvicides.

Keywords: Clinopodium gracile, Aedes albopictus, Larvicidal activity, Mosquito, Essential oil