Essential Oil Composition and Larvicidal Evaluation of Platycladus orientalis against Two Mosquito Vectors, Anopheles stephensi and Culex pipiens

• Main Authors: Alireza Sanei-Dehkordi, Sahereh Gholami, Mohammad Reza Abai, Mohammad Mehdi Sedaghat
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Tehran University of Medical Sciences 2018-06-01
• Series: Journal of Arthropod-Borne Diseases
• Subjects: Anopheles stephensi, Culex pipiens, Platycladus orientalis, Essential oil, Larvicide
• Online Access: http://jad.tums.ac.ir/index.php/jad/article/view/869
• ISSN: 1735-7179; 2322-2271

<p><strong>Background:</strong> Natural plant products as larvicides could be considered as desirable alternatives to synthetic chemi­cal insecticides for vector management. This study was undertaken to assess the mosquito larvicide activity of the essential oil from fresh leaves of <em>Platycladus orientalis</em> against two medically important species of mosquito vec­tors.<strong><br />Methods: </strong>Essential oil was extracted by hydrodistillation and analyzed with gas chromatography and mass spec­trometry (GC-MS). Fresh leaves of <em>P. orientalis</em> tree (500g) were collected in June 2014 from Tehran, Iran and was authenticated at the Department of Medical Entomology and Vector Control, School of Public Health, Tehran Uni­versity of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.<br />In addition, the larvicidal potential of oil was evaluated against late-3^rd or young-4^th instar larvae of <em>Anopheles stephensi</em> and <em>Culex pipiens</em> under laboratory condition<em>.</em> The mortality counts were made after 24h and LC₅₀ and LC₉₀ values were calculated.<strong><br />Results: </strong>Forty-six components in leaves of <em>P. orientalis</em> were identified. The major components were α-Pinene (20.17%), 3-Carene (14%) and Cedrol (9.51%). The LC₅₀ values against <em>An. stephensi</em> and <em>Cx. pipiens</em> larvae were 11.67ppm and 18.60ppm after 24h, respectively.<strong><br />Conclusion:</strong> <em>Platycladus orientalis</em> oil could be considered as a natural larvicide for mosquito larval control.</p>