Abstract
Mosquito is one of insects spreading the vector of serious diseases to human being through its bite such as Culex which spreads the vector of filariasis and brain inflammatory diseases. Some people have used plants as insecticides traditionally, such as fern (Diplazium esculentum (Retz.) Sw.). D. esculentum (Retz.) Sw. popularly known as edible fern which almost all Asian people, especially Indonesian consumed it as vegetable, and some people also used it for medicinal purposes. This study was performed to investigate the secondary metabolites from D. esculentum leaves and its larvicidal activity against Culex. The phytochemical screening was undertaken on the leaves and methanol extract of D. esculentum, the results showed the presence of alkaloids, steroids, phenols, and tannins on leaves, while methanol extract exhibited existence of steroids, saponins, phenols and tannins. Investigation of larvicidal activity of methanol extract was carried out against Culex larvaes for various concentrations which observed for 48 hours. Percentage of mortality was analyzed statistically using Bill Test method that showed active larvicidal activity with a LC50 value of 149.279 ppm. This study indicates that fern plant have the potential as larvicidal against Culex and need to perform the further research to develop the new natural insecticides.
Highlights
Mosquitoes are among the insects that pose a serious threat to public health by spreading vector diseases in humans, including malaria, yellow fever, dengue fever and chikungunya [1]
Aedes aegypti L., Anopheles gambiae, Culex quinquefasciatus Say and Culex pipens are some of the types of mosquitoes responsible for the transmission of some human diseases caused by protozoa, nematodes, meningitis, urticaria and virus (West Nile encephalitis, dengue fever, yellow fever and chikungunya) [2,3]
If the extract is insoluble in water, added dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) 0.2%, the same treatment for positive and negative controls (DMSO amount is converted according to the needs) was performed, stirred until solution is homogeneous
Summary
Mosquitoes are among the insects that pose a serious threat to public health by spreading vector diseases in humans, including malaria, yellow fever, dengue fever and chikungunya [1]. Some Acehnese people have used plants to overcome mosquitoes, one of the plants used is fern (Diplazium esculentum (Retz.) Sw). D. esculentum (Retz.) Sw. belonging to Athyriaceae family known as edible fern is a forest plant that has been used by many people since the past as a vegetable. This plant has potential of economic, cultural, Preliminary Phytochemical Analysis and Larvicidal Activity of Edible Fern (Diplazium esculentum (Retz.)... [11,12] (Figure 1) This plant consists of creeping and branched rhizome; scales brown, lanceolate and up to 7 to 15 mm in length, long fern leaves up to 100 cm and a width up to 20 cm, rather dimorphic, higher fertile leaves, erect, sterile curved. We report the secondary metabolite content of Aceh fern plant and its larvicidal activity against Culex
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