Actividad larvicida de extractos vegetales de la familia Asteraceae y modelación matemática para su uso en el control de poblaciones de Aedes aegypti

Abstract

Dengue, chikungunya and Zika, all transmitted by Aedes aegypti, are diseases that affect the human world population. The evaluation of raw plant extracts allows the establishment of efficient products for the control of populations of this mosquito. This work evaluated the larvicidal activity of 23 species of the family Asteraceae, and its preliminary phytochemical composition, to control populations of A. aegypti. The vegetable material was collected in the department of Quindío, Colombia. We prepared the plant extracts used in the phytochemical characterization and bioassays with the material collected. For each extract, a dose-response bioassay was performed with larvae from the municipality of Armenia (Quindío, Colombia) following the WHO protocol. These assays indicated that after 48h the extracts of Jaegeria hirta (694.8% ± 149.9), Austroeupatorium inulaefolium (753.3% ± 198.8) and Heliopsis oppsitifolia (764.4% ± 170.0) require less concentration to kill 95% of larvae. Additionally, a mathematical model that describes the behavior of the mosquito populations was constructed, in order to evaluate different control strategies using the extracts; the simulations obtained from the numerical solution of the system allow us to conclude that the application of extracts from these plants constitutes a viable tool for A. aegypti control. On the other hand, the preliminary phytochemical analysis of the 23 plant species shows the presence of tannins, quinones, falvonoides, sterols, coumarins and alkaloids. It is concluded then, that J. hirta, A. inulaefoliu and H. oppsitifolia deserve to be further studied, given their larvicidal potential for the control of A. aegypti.