Abstract
Evaluation of the efficacy of methanolic and aqueous extracts of Carica papaya and Azadirachta indica against the wood termite (Odontotermes badius) was carried out in the Botany garden, University of Uyo main campus, Akwa Ibom State. The phytochemical properties of the extracts were carried out in the Department of Pharmacognosy and Natural Medicine, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, using the standard procedures. The untreated wood (Ceiba pentandra) was cut into 60 pieces of equal sizes of 11cmx8cm. 40ml and 80ml concentrations (Using 100ml unit syringe) of each of the extracts of the leave and stem parts of C. papaya and A. indica were applied on the woods using soft-faced brush, the control treated with water. The treated woods well marked using marker together with the control were inserted horizontally into the termitarium and were monitored for 24, 48, 72 and 96 hours. The data collected were analyzed using two ways Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), and their means separated using p < 0.05 probability. The phytochemical screening result of aqueous and methanolic extract of C. papaya and A. indica indicates the presence of flavonoids, saponins, tannins, terpernoids, phenols, cardiac glycosides, alkaloids and anthraquinine. In conclusion, from the results showed that the methanolic plant extract of C. papaya and A. indica leaves and stem offered greater effectiveness for wood protection against termite (O. badius) compared to aqueous extracts of the plants.
Highlights
One of the major agents of degradation of wood is termite attack (Obomanu et al, 2011). Chemicals such as Solignum and Thiamethoxam have been generally used to providing a longer protection of wooden materials from termites’ infestation but due to their environmental hazard and residual effect on non-target and ecofriendly organisms the usage of such chemicals is reducing and getting them is becoming difficult while the use of biopesticides from plants have been highly and strongly advocated for (Oyedokun et al, 2011; Silva et al, 2012; Céspedes et al, 2014; Ugbomeh and Diboyesuku, 2019; Ubulom et al, 2020)
Considering the enormous reports on the promising nature of biopesticides obtained from plants against termites in the tropics in controlled environment, the objective of this study was to examine the efficacy of methanolic and aqueous extracts of C. papaya and A. indica against wood termite (Odontotermes badius) in the field
The plants were identified by a Curator, Department of Botany and Ecological studies, University of Uyo. 2.1.2
Summary
Wood is one of the oldest known materials used in the construction of structures with a wide variety of application (Tolunay et al, 2008). One of the major agents of degradation of wood is termite attack (Obomanu et al, 2011) Chemicals such as Solignum and Thiamethoxam have been generally used to providing a longer protection of wooden materials from termites’ infestation but due to their environmental hazard and residual effect on non-target and ecofriendly organisms the usage of such chemicals is reducing and getting them is becoming difficult while the use of biopesticides from plants have been highly and strongly advocated for (Oyedokun et al, 2011; Silva et al, 2012; Céspedes et al, 2014; Ugbomeh and Diboyesuku, 2019; Ubulom et al, 2020).
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