Punica Granatum-Based Green Ethanolic Extract as Highly Effective and Eco-Friendly Larvicide, Repellent against Medically Important Mosqui-to Vectors

Background & objective: Mosquito vectors are living organisms that can transmit infectious diseases between human from animals to humans. It is bloodsucking insect that ingest disease-producing microorganisms during a blood meal from an infected host. The present investigation discovered that the larvicidal activity of ethanol extract of P. granatum showed most mortality among the opposite crude extracts. Methods: The chemical composition of P. granatum ethanolic extract was analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy. A total of twenty five III instar larvae of An. stephensi and Cx. quinquefasciatus were exposed to various concentrations (50-250 ppm) in the laboratory by using the standard protocol described by WHO (2005). The repellent activity of P. granatum chemical compositions tested against 100 blood starved female mosquitoes of An. stephensi and Cx. quinquefasciatus using the protocol of WHO (1996). Results: In GC-MS analysis, a total of seven compounds were identified in the ethanolic extract composition, the main component was Methyl 4-piperidineacetate. Further, the LC₅₀ and LC₉₀ values were found to be 110.36 and 212.28 mg/L against Cx. quinquefasciatus. The repellent activity to be best and therefore the most activity was ascertained at 3.5 mg/cm² concentration provided 100% protection up to 240 min against Cx. quinquefasciatus. Conclusion: The results clearly show confirmed that the presence of active compounds in leaf of P. granatum.

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