Larvicidal activities of essential oils of indigenous medicinal plants, Mentha pulegium L., Satureja hortensis L., and Thymus vulgaris L. against malaria vector, Anopheles stephensi

Abstract

According to World Health Organization report, malaria is the main important arthropod-borne disease in the World . There is several chemical control of mosquito. Due to resistant of vectors to different insecticides, this research was aim to evaluate the larvicidal activities of three native plants, Mentha pulegium L., Satureja hortensis L., and Thymus vulgaris L. against 3th-4th instar larvae of Anopheles stephensi.Medicinal plants were collected from different localities in East Azerbaijan province, Iran. The plant samples were dried in shaded place and the chopped plants were hydro-distilled in a Clevenger-type apparatus for 2–4 h and the EOs dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate. The EOs was maintained in the dark sealed vials at 4 °C until conduction of the larvicidal tests. The larvicidal tests were carried out based on the guideline of WHO.The values of LC50 of EOs of Mentha pulegiumL., Satureja hortensis L, and Thymus vulgaris L. were 40.1324, 34.1527, 53.1063 ppm respectively . The LC90 of EOs of Mentha pulegium L., Satureja hortensis L., and Thymus vulgaris L. were 122.1340,98.9910,96.4527 respectively. Satureja hortensis L. had the lowest LC50 and the Thymus vulgaris the highest one.More efforts are recommended for trade formulation, semi-field and field evaluations of EOs are strongly recommended at the malarious area, southern Iran.