Biocontrol evaluation of extracts and a major component, clusianone, from Clusia fluminensis Planch. & Triana against Aedes aegypti

• Published in: Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz 2015-08, Vol.110 (5), p.629-635
• Main Authors: Anholeti, Maria C, Duprat, Rodrigo C, Figueiredo, Maria R, Kaplan, Maria A. C, Santos, Marcelo Guerra, Gonzalez, Marcelo S, Ratcliffe, Norman A, Feder, Denise, Paiva, Selma R, Mello, Cicero B
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aedes - drug effects; Aedes aegypti; Animals; Clusia - chemistry; Clusia fluminensis; clusianone; Insect Vectors - drug effects; Larva - drug effects; larvicidal; PARASITOLOGY; Plant Extracts - pharmacology; Time Factors; TROPICAL MEDICINE
• ISSN: 1678-8060; 0074-0276; 1678-8060
• DOI: 10.1590/0074-02760150103

Studies evaluated the effects of hexanic extracts from the fruits and flowers of Clusia fluminensis and the main component of the flower extract, a purified benzophenone (clusianone), against Aedes aegypti . The treatment of larvae with the crude fruit or flower extracts from C. fluminensis did not affect the survival of Ae. aegypti (50 mg/L), however, the flower extracts significantly delayed development of Ae. aegypti. In contrast, the clusianone (50 mg/L) isolate from the flower extract, representing 54.85% of this sample composition, showed a highly significant inhibition of survival, killing 93.3% of the larvae and completely blocking development of Ae. aegypti. The results showed, for the first time, high activity of clusianone against Ae. aegypti that both killed and inhibited mosquito development. Therefore, clusianone has potential for development as a biopesticide for controlling insect vectors of tropical diseases. Future work will elucidate the mode of action of clusianone isolated from C. fluminensis.