Abstract
Mosquitoes are blood-feeding insects and serve as the most important vectors for spreading human diseases such as malaria, yellow fever, dengue fever, and filariasis. The continued use of synthetic insecticides has resulted in resistance in mosquitoes. Synthetic insecticides are toxic and affect the environment by contaminating soil, water, and air, and then natural products may be an alternative to synthetic insecticides because they are effective, biodegradable, eco-friendly, and safe to environment. Botanical origin may serve as suitable alternative biocontrol techniques in the future. Mentha spicata, an edible and medicinal plant, is chiefly distributed in Southeast Asia and South Asia. In the present study, the toxicity of mosquito larvicidal activity of leaf essential oil (EO) and their major chemical constituents from Mentha spicata against Culex quinquefasciatus, Aedes aegypti, and Anopheles stephensi. The chemical composition of the leaf EO was analyzed using gas chromatography–mass spectroscopy (GC-MS). GC-MS revealed that the EO of M. spicata contained 18 compounds. The major chemical components identified were carvone (48.60%), cis-carveol (21.30%), and limonene (11.30%). The EO had a significant toxic effect against early third-stage larvae of C. quinquefasciatus, A. aegypti, and A. stephensi with LC50 values of 62.62, 56.08, and 49.71 ppm and LC90 values of 118.70, 110.28, and 100.99 ppm, respectively. The three major pure constituents extracted from the M. spicata leaf EO were also tested individually against three mosquito larvae. The LC50 values of carvone, cis-carveol, and limonene appeared to be most effective against A. stephensi (LC50 19.33, 28.50, and 8.83 ppm) followed by A. aegypti (LC50 23.69, 32.88, and 12.01 ppm), and C. quinquefasciatus (LC50 25.47, 35.20, and 14.07 ppm). The results could be useful in search for newer, safer, and more effective natural larvicidal agents against C. quinquefasciatus, A. aegypti, and A. stephensi.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Amer A, Mehlhorn H (2006a) Larvicidal effects of various essential oils against Aedes, Anopheles, and Culex larvae (Diptera: Culicidae). Parasitol Res 99:466–472
Amer A, Mehlhorn H (2006b) Repellency effect of forty-one essential oils against Aedes, Anopheles and Culex mosquitoes. Parasitol Res 99:478–490
Ansari MA, Razdan RK (1994) Repellent action of Cymbopogon martini martini Stapf var. Sofia against mosquitoes. Indian J Malariol 31:95–102
Ansari MA, Razdan RK (1995) Relative efficacy of various oils in repelling mosquitoes. Indian J Malariol 32:104–111
Ansari MA, Vasudevan P, Tandon M, Razdan RK (2000) Larvicidal and mosquito repellent action of peppermint (Mentha piperita) oil. Bioresour Technol 71:267–271
Ansari MA, Mittal PK, Razdan RK, Sreehari U (2005) Larvicidal and mosquito repellent activities of pine (Pinus longifolia, Family: Pinaceae) oil. J Vector Borne Dis 42:95–99
Araujo ECC, Silveira ER, Lima MAS, Andrade Neto M, De Andrade IL, Lima MAA, Santiago GMP, Mesquita ALM (2003) Insecticidal activity and chemical composition of volatile oils from Hyptis martiusii Benth. J Agric Food Chem 51(13):3760–3762
Batabyal L, Sharma P, Mohan L, Maurya P, Srivastava CN (2007) Larvicidal efficiency of certain seed extracts against Anopheles stephensi, with reference to Azadirachta indica. J Asia Pacific Entomol 10:1–5
Bernhard L, Bernhard P, Magnussen P (2003) Management of patients with lymphoedema caused by filariasis in North–eastern Tanzania: alternative approaches. Physiotherapy 89:743–749
Bhatnagar M, Kapur KK, Jalers S, Sharma SK (1993) Laboratory evaluation of insecticidal properties of Ocimum basilicum L. and Ocimum sanctum L. plants essential oils and their major constituents against vector mosquito species. J Entomol Res 17:21–26
Carvalho AFU, Maciel Melo VM, Craveiro AA, Machado MIL, Bantim MB, Rabelo E (2003) Larvicidal activity of the essential oil from Lippia sidoides Cham. against Aedes aegypti L. Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz Rio de Janiero 98(4):569–571
Cavalcanti ESB, Morais SM, Lima MAA, Santana EWP (2004) Larvicidal activity of essential oils from Brazilian plants against Aedes aegypti L. Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz 99:541–544
Chaiyasit D, Choochote W, Rattanachanpichai E, Chaithong U, Chaiwong P, Jitpakdi A, Tippawangkosol P, Riyong D, Pitasawat B (2006) Essential oils as potential adulticides against two populations of Aedes aegypti, the laboratory and natural field strains, in Chiang Mai province, northern Thailand. Parasitol Res 99:715–721
Chantraine JM, Laurent D, Ballivian C, Saavedra G, Ibanez R, Vilaseca LA (1998) Insecticidal activity of essential oils on Aedes aegypti larvae. Phytother Res 12(5):350–354
Cheng SS, Chang HT, Chang ST, Tsai KH, Chen WJ (2003) Bioactivity of selected plant essential oils against the yellow fever mosquito Aedes aegypti larvae. Bioresour Technol 89:99–102
Cheng S, Liu J, Tsai K, Chen W, Chang S (2004) Chemical composition and mosquito larvicidal activity of essential oils from leaves of different Cinnamomum osmophloeum provenances. J Agric Food Chem 52:4395–4400
Choochote W, Kanjanapothi D, Panthong A, Taesotikul T, Jitpakdi A, Chaithong U, Pitasawat B (1999) Larvicidal, adulticidal, and repellent effects of Kaempferia galanga. Southeast Asian J Trop Med Publ Health 30:470–476
Conti B, Canale A, Bertoli A, Gozzini F, Pistelli L (2010) Essential oil composition and larvicidal activity of six Mediterranean aromatic plants against the mosquito Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae). Parasitol Res 107:1455–1461
Dashora LK, Dashora A, Lakhawat SS (2006) Mint (pudina). In: Production Technology of Plantation Crops, Spices, Aromatic and Medicinal Plants. Agrotech Publication Academy, Udaipur, India, pp 277–284
Dua VK, Gupta NC, Pandey AC, Sharma VP (1996) Repellency of Lantana camara (Verbenaceae) flowers against Aedes mosquitoes. Am Mosq Cont Assoc 12:406–408
Finney DJ (1971) Probit analysis. Cambridge University Press
Franzios G, Mirotsou M, Hatziapostolou E, Kral J, Scouras ZG, Mavragani-Tsipidou P (1997) Insecticidal and genotoxic activities of mint essential oils. J Agric Food Chem 45:2690–2694
Gbolade AA, Oyedele AO, Sosan MB, Adewayin FB, Soyela OL (2000) Mosquito repellent activities of essential oils from two Nigerian Ocimum species. J Trop Med Plants 1:146–148
Gleiser RM, Zygadlo JA (2007) Insecticidal properties of essential oils from Lippia turbinata and Lippia polystachya (Verbenaceae) against Culex quinquefasciatus (Diptera: Culicidae). Parasitol Res 101:1349–1354
Govindarajan M (2010a) Chemical composition and larvicidal activity of leaf essential oil from Clausena anisata (willd.) Hook. F. Benth (Rutaceae) against three mosquito species. Asian Pacific J Trop Med 3:874–877
Govindarajan M (2010b) Larvicidal and repellent activities of Sida acuta Burm. F. (Family: Malvaceae) against three important vector mosquitoes. Asian Pacific J Trop Med 3:691–695
Govindarajan M (2010c) Larvicidal efficacy of Ficus benghalensis L. plant leaf extracts against Culex quinquefasciatus Say, Aedes aegypti L. and Anopheles stephensi L. (Diptera: Culicidae). Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci 14:107–111
Govindarajan M (2011a) Mosquito larvicidal and ovicidal activity of Cardiospermum halicacabum Linn. (Family: Sapindaceae) Leaf extract against Culex quinquefasciatus (say.) and Aedes aegypti (Linn.) (Diptera: Culicidae). Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci 15(7):787–794
Govindarajan M (2011b) Ovicidal and repellent properties of Coccinia indica Wight and Arn. (Family: Cucurbitaceae) against three important vector mosquitoes. Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci 15, (In press)
Govindarajan M (2011c) Larvicidal and repellent properties of some essential oils against Culex tritaeniorhynchus Giles and Anopheles subpictus Grassi (Diptera: Culicidae). Asian Pacific J Trop Med 4(2):106–111
Govindarajan M (2011d) Evaluation of Andrographis paniculata Burm.f. (Family:Acanthaceae) extracts against Culex quinquefasciatus (Say.) and Aedes aegypti (Linn.) (Diptera:Culicidae). Asian Pacific J of Trop Med 176–181
Govindarajan M, Karuppannan P (2011) Mosquito larvicidal and ovicidal properties of Eclipta alba (L.) Hassk (Asteraceae) against chikungunya vector, Aedes aegypti (Linn.) (Diptera: Culicidae). Asian Pacific J Trop Med 4:24–28
Govindarajan M, Sivakumar R (2011) Adulticidal and repellent properties of indigenous plant extracts against Culex quinquefasciatus and Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae). Parasitol Res. doi:10.1007/s00436-011-2669-9
Govindarajan M, Jebanesan A, Pushpanathan T (2008a) Larvicidal and ovicidal activity of Cassia fistula Linn. leaf extract against filarial and malarial vector mosquitoes. Parasitol Res 102:289–292
Govindarajan M, Jebanesan A, Pushpanathan T, Samidurai K (2008b) Studies on effect of Acalypha indica L. (Euphorbiaceae) leaf extracts on the malarial vector, Anopheles stephensi Liston (Diptera: Culicidae). Parasitol Res 103:691–695
Govindarajan M, Mathivanan T, Elumalai K, Krishnappa K, Anandan A (2011a) Ovicidal and repellent activities of botanical extracts against Culex quinquefasciatus, Aedes aegypti and Anopheles stephensi (Diptera: Culicidae). Asian Pacific J Trop Biomed 1:43–48
Govindarajan M, Mathivanan T, Elumalai K, Krishnappa K, Anandan A (2011b) Mosquito larvicidal, ovicidal, and repellent properties of botanical extracts against Anopheles stephensi, Aedes aegypti, and Culex quinquefasciatus (Diptera: Culicidae). Parasitol Res 109:353–367
Govindarajan M, Mathivanan T, Elumalai K, Krishnappa K, Anandan A (2011c) Mosquito larvicidal, ovicidal and repellent properties of botanical extracts against Anopheles stephensi, Aedes aegypti and Culex quinquefasciatus (Diptera: Culicidae). Parasitol Res 109:353–367
Govindarajan M, Sivakumar R, Amsath A, Niraimathi S (2011d) Mosquito larvicidal properties of Ficus benghalensis L. (Family: Moraceae) against Culex tritaeniorhynchus Giles and Anopheles subpictus Grassi (Diptera: Culicidae). Asian Pacific J Trop Med 505–509
Hales S, Wet ND, Maindonald J, Woodward A (2002) Potential effect of population and climate changes on global distribution of dengue fever: an empirical model. Lancet 360:830–834
Jirovetz L, Buchbauer G, Shabi M, Ngassoum MB (2002) Comparative investigation of essential oil and volatiles of spearmint. Perfum Flav 27:16–22
Karunamoorthi K, Ramanujam S, Rathinasamy R (2008) Evaluation of leaf extracts of Vitex negundo L (Family: Verbenaceae) against larvae of Culex tritaeniorhynchus and repellent activity on adult vector mosquitoes. Parasitol Res 103:545–550
Khanuja SPS (2007) Employ contract farming to boost area under cultivation for essential oil bearing crops. In: Business enabling of aromatic plants and products, 21–22 November 2007 at HRDI Dehradun. Chem Weekly, 25 December, pp 180–184
Lawrence BM (2006) Mint: The genus Mentha. CRC, Boca Raton
Mathivanan T, Govindarajan M, Elumalai K, Krishnappa K, Ananthan A (2010) Mosquito larvicidal and phytochemical properties of Ervatamia coronaria Stapf. (Family: Apocynaceae). J Vector Borne Dis 47:178–180
Mohan L, Sharma P, Srivastava CN (2005) Evaluation of Solanum xanthocarpum extracts as mosquito larvicides. J Environ Biol 26:399–401
Mullai K, Jebanesan A (2007) Larvicidal, ovicidal and repellent activities of the leaf extract of two cucurbitacious plants against filarial vector Culex quinquefasciatus (Say) (Diptera: Culicidae). Trop Biomed 24(1):1–6
Penfold AR, Morrison FR (1952) Some Australian essential oils in insecticides and repellents. Soap Perfum Cosmet 52:933–934
Peng Z, Yang J, Wang H, Simons FER (1999) Production and characterization of monoclonal antibodies to two new mosquito Aedes aegypti salivary proteins. Insect Biochem Mol Biol 29:909–914
Perich M, Wells C, Bertsch W, Tredway KE (1995) Isolation of the insecticidal components of Tagetes minuta (Compositae) against mosquito larvae and adults. J Am Mosq Cont Assoc 11:307–310
Prabakar K, Jebanesan A (2004) Larvicidal efficacy of some Cucurbitaceous plant leaf extracts against Culex quinquefasciatus (Say). Bioresour Technol 95:113–114
Prajapati V, Tripathi AK, Aggarwal KK, Khanuja SPS (2005) Insecticidal, repellent and oviposition-deterrent activity of selected essential oils against Anopheles stephensi, Aedes aegypti and Culex quinquefasciatus. Bioresour Technol 96:1749–1757
Pushpanathan T, Jebanesan A, Govindarajan M (2006a) Larvicidal efficacy of three plant essential oils against the yellow fever mosquito Aedes aegypti Linn.(diptera: Culicidae). Insect Environ 12(2):55–56
Pushpanathan T, Jebanesan A, Govindarajan M (2006b) Larvicidal, ovicidal and repellent activities of Cymbopogan citrates Stapf (Graminae) essential oil against the filarial mosquito Culex quinquefasciatus (Say) (Diptera: Culicidae). Trop Biomede 23(2):208–212
Pushpanathan T, Jebanesan A, Govindarajan M (2008a) The essential oil of Zingiber officinalis Linn (Zingiberaceae) as a mosquito larvicidal and repellent agent against the filarial vector Culex quinquefasciatus Say (Diptera: Culicidae). Parasitol Res 102:1289–1291
Pushpanathan T, Jebanesan A, Govindarajan M, Mullai K, Samithurai K (2008b) Repellent activity of essential oils of Pelargonium graveolens L. Herit against yellow fever mosquito Aedes aegypti Linnaeous. In: Vectors-borne diseases: epidemiology and control. Scientific Publishers (India), Jodhpur, pp 129–133
Pushpanathan T, Jebanesan A, Govindarajan M, Samithurai K (2008c) Larvicidal activity of the extract of Citrullus colocynthis (L) Schred against vector mosquitoes. In: Tyagi BK (ed) Vectors-borne diseases: epidemeology and control. Scientific, (India)-Jodhpur, pp 67–72
Pushpanathan T, Jebanesan A, Govindarajan M (2008d) Larvicidal efficacy of certain plant essential oils against Culex quinquefasciatus (Diptera: Culicidae). J Exp Zool India 11(1):159–160
Rahuman AA, Gopalarkrishnan G, Saleem G, Arumrgam S, Himalayan B (2000) Effect of Feronia limonia on mosquito larvae. Fitoterapia 71:553–555
Samidurai K, Jebanesan A, Saravanakumar A, Govindarajan M, Pushpanathan T (2009) Larvicidal, ovicidal and repellent activities of Pemphis acidula Forst. (Lythraceae) against filarial and dengue vector mosquitoes. Acad J Entomol 2(2):62–66
Senthilkumar A, Kannathasan K, Venkatesalu V (2008) Chemical constituents and larvicidal property of the essential oil of Blumea mollis (D. Don) Merr. against Culex quinquefasciatus. Parasitol Res 103:959–962
Singh RK, Dhiman RC, Mittal PK (2006) Mosquito larvicidal properties of Momordica charantia Linn (Family: Cucurbitaceae). J Vect Borne Dis 43:88–91
Taubitz W, Cramer JP, Kapaun A, Pfeffer M, Drosten C, Dobler G et al (2007) Chikungunya fever in travelers: clinical presentation and course. Clin Infect Dis 45:508
Thomas TG, Rao S, Lal S (2004) Mosquito larvicidal properties of essential oil of an indigenous plant, Ipomoea cairica Linn. Jpn J Infect Dis 57:176–177
Tiwary M, Naik SN, Tewaryb DK, Mittalc PK, Yadavc S (2007) Chemical composition and larvicidal activities of the essential oil of Zanthoxylum armatum DC (Rutaceae) against three mosquito vectors. J Vect Born Dis 44:198–204
Traboulsi AF, Taoubi K, El-Haj S, Bessiere JM, Ramal S (2002) Insecticidal properties of essential plant oils against the mosquito Culex pipiens molestus (Diptera: Culicidae). Pest Manag Sci 58:491–495
Traboulsi AF, El-Haj S, Tueni M, Taoubi K, Nader NB, Mrad A (2005) Repellency and toxicity of aromatic plant extracts against the mosquito Culex pipiens molestus (Diptera: Culicidae). Pest Manag Sci 61:597–604
Vasudevan P, Kashyap S, Sharma S (1997) Tagetes: a multipurpose plant. Bioresour Technol 62:29–35
Vourlioti-Arapi F, Michaelakis A, Evergetis E, Koliopoulos G, Haroutounian SA (2011) Essential oils of indigenous in Greece six Juniperus taxa Chemical composition and larvicidal activity against the West Nile virus vector Culex pipiens. Parasitol Res. doi:10.1007/s00436-011-2706-8
Wernsdorfer G, Wernsdorfer WH (2003) Malaria at the turn from the 2nd to the 3rd millennium. Wien Klin Wochenschr 115:2–9
World Health Organization (2005) Guidelines for laboratory and field testing of mosquito larvicides. WHO/CDS/WHOPES/GCDPP/2005.13. Geneva, p 69
Yonis YM, Beshir SM (2004) Carvone rich essential oil from Mentha longifolia (L) Huds. Ssp. Schimperi Briq. and Mentha spicata L. grown in Sudan. J Essent Oil Res 16:539–541
Zhu L, Tian Y (2011) Chemical composition and larvicidal activity of Blumea densiflora essential oils against Anopheles anthropophagus: a malarial vector mosquito. Parasitol Res. doi:10.1007/s00436-011-2388-2
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Dr. (Mrs.) Selvi Sabhanayakam, Professor and Head of the Department of Zoology, Annamalai University for the laboratory facilities provided. We also acknowledge the cooperation of staff members of the VCRC (ICMR), Pondicherry.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Govindarajan, M., Sivakumar, R., Rajeswari, M. et al. Chemical composition and larvicidal activity of essential oil from Mentha spicata (Linn.) against three mosquito species. Parasitol Res 110, 2023–2032 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-011-2731-7
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-011-2731-7