Research
The essential oil of Brazilian pepper, Schinus terebinthifolia Raddi in larval control of Stegomyia aegypti (Linnaeus, 1762)
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* Corresponding author: Ary G Silva arygomes@uvv.br
1 Centro Universitário Vila Velha - UVV. Rua Comissário José Dantas de Melo, 21, Boa Vista, Vila Velha, ES, CEP 29.102-770, Brazil
2 Tommasi Laboratório. Rua Araribóia, 322, Centro, Vila Velha, ES, CEP.: 29100-340, Brazil
3 Tommasi Analítica. Avenida Luciano das Neves, 2016, Divino Espírito Santo, Vila Velha, ES, CEP. 29.107-010, Brazil
Parasites & Vectors 2010, 3:79 doi:10.1186/1756-3305-3-79
Published: 27 August 2010Abstract
Background
The ability of mosquitoes of the genus Aedes and its allies, such as Stegomyia, to transmit diseases such as dengue and yellow fever, makes them important in public health. This study aims to evaluate the use of the essential oil of Brazilian pepper in biological control of by assessing and quantifying the larvicidal effect against S. aegypti, the only available access to dengue control, and test its risk of genotoxicity with Salmonella typhimurium as an indicator of safety for its environmental use.
Results
The density of the oil was 0.8622 g mL-1. Gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry revealed six major constituents: δ-3-carene (55.43%), α-pinene (16.25%), sylvestrene (10.67%), germacrene D (2.17), β-myrcene (1.99%), and isoterpinolene (1.4%). The minimum inhibitory dose to larvae development was 862.20 μg mL-1. The median lethal dose (LD50) of the essential oil for larvae was between the concentrations of 172.44-344.88 μg mL-1. There was no mutagenic risk for the essential oil, since there were no biochemical or morphological changes in S. typhimurium after exposure to the essential oil.
Conclusions
The minimum inhibitory essential oil concentration and the median lethal dose pointed to the value of the use of water dispersions of Brazilian pepper essential oil as an environmental safe natural larvicidal for S. aegypti.