Efficacy Of Ficus religiosa And Curcuma longa Leaf Extracts On Heterotermes indicola Under Laboratory Conditions

Abstract

Termite infestations can cause severe damage to crops, resulting in yield loss and contamination of products. Using synthetic insecticides to manage termites often leads to environmental pollution and the development of resistance in termites. Since many plants are known to have insecticidal properties, this study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of locally available plants at various concentrations for termite control. The current study was performed to evaluate the efficacy of ethanolic leaf extracts of Ficus religiosa, and Curcuma longa against Heterotermes indicola under laboratory conditions. Mortality of termites increased when feed on F. religiosa leaf extracts with minimum feeding rate at the maximum concentration (30%). The results showed that F. religiosa was more potent than C. longa, with LC50 values of 8.71 and 22.74, respectively. Chemical composition of plants extracts by Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) revealed 14 and 18 compounds in selected ethanolic leaf extracts respectively. The largest chemical components based on percentage of sample identified from F. religiosa were n-Hexadecanoic acid, 1-Hexacoosene, 9,12,15-Octadecatrienal, Phytol, and dl-a-Tocopherol. The main components of C. longa were identified as, Benzenmethanol, a, a,4-trimethyl, 1,2-cis-1,5-trans-2,5-dihydroxy-4-methyl-1-(1-hydroxy-1-isopropyl) cyclohex-3, Cyclohexene, 1-methyl-4-1 (1-methylethylidene)- and 2-Methoxy-4-vinylphenol.