1.Phytochemical composition of almond oil from Melia azedarach L. and its larvicidal, ovicidal, repellent and enzyme activities in Culex pipiens L.
Khaldi, R. ; Rehimi, N. ; Kharoubi, R. ; Soltani, N.
Tropical Biomedicine 2022;39(No.4):531-538
Melia azedarach L. (Meliaceae) is a botanical species with focal point of global research for its
biological properties. The Melia azedarach tree is distinguished by its rapid growth, its adaptation to
different temperate zones, as well as its insecticidal properties. All this made us think of exploiting it
in biological control against different stages of mosquitoes. To this end, we aim, through the present
work, to evaluate the effectiveness of Melia azedarach extracts against Culex pipiens mosquito. More
specifically, our study focuses on determining the chemical composition of Melia almond oil, as well
as the larvicidal, ovicidal and repellent activities on Culex pipiens L. mosquito as well as the activities
of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and glutathione-S-transferase (GST). Almond oil was extracted by a
Soxhlet and subjected to gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The yield was found to
be 35.17%. The chemical composition revealed the presence of various phytoconstituents. A total of
7 compounds were identified, the main ones being 9,11-Octadecadienoic acid, methyl ester, (E,E)-
(79.32%), 9-octadecenoic acid (Z)-, methyl ester (13.24%), hexadecanoic acid and methyl ester (3.69%).
The larvicidal bioassays were performed according to the protocol recommended by the World Health
Organization with concentrations varying from 20 to 80 mg/L depending on the exposure time (24, 48
and 72 hours). The almond oil exhibited remarkable larvicidal activity against fourth instar larvae and
the lethal concentrations were determined (LC25= 23.70 mg/L, LC50=35.49 mg/L, LC90=79.61 mg/L).
The results also showed that the oil caused an ovicidal activity with a significant effect on egg hatch.
The recorded hatching percentages were respectively 88.79% and 72.40% for the LC25 and LC50, and
this compared to the control series. Moreover, this oil exhibited significant repellency against adult
mosquitoes. Furthermore, the enzymatic measurements performed on LC50 and LC90 treated larvae
revealed a neurotoxic activity and a stimulation of the detoxification system as evidenced, respectively, by
an inhibition of AChE and induction in GST activity. Overall, our data proved that Melia azedarach almond
oil could be considered as a potent biorational alternative to synthetic insecticides for mosquito control.